Among the confiscated animals were the highly endangered prickly-nosed, two-horned and dwarf chameleons. At that time, Schönbrunn took over the emergency care of the exotic animals and housed them in special terrariums. “Chameleons are loners and therefore have to be kept and fed individually, they only come together to mate. Caring for these demanding animals is a particular challenge for us, but it pays off,” said Walter in a broadcast on Thursday.
In the case of the Nguru dwarf chameleons, for example, there were even more than 80 offspring last year. Adult animals are just under six centimeters tall – the tiny young animals measure just one centimeter plus half a centimeter tail.
“The Nguru dwarf chameleon is bred in only one other zoo in the world apart from us. We are therefore particularly proud that the work of our team of specialists was rewarded so quickly with this breeding success,” said zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck happily. “We hope to be able to build up reserve populations outside of the endangered natural habitat with our offspring, in order to counteract the extinction of these species.” In the wild, all of the rescued chameleon species are endangered or even threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction and smuggling.
Source: Nachrichten
