Furcifer balteatus

The Furcifer balteatus is a chameleon endemic to South-east Madagascar. Of medium size it can reach the 45 cm, tail included, with a very much variable livery, rich of spots, white, yellow and even red on a pale green coloured base. Males can be easily recognized because of two characteristic bony 15 mm projections located at the extremity of the snout. The typical environment of the species is that of the rainforest, increasingly degraded by the human activities, insomuch that now it is found hunting insects, with its retractile sticky tongue, even in gardens of the rural houses. This is a rare species, in serious danger of extinction due to the scarce and fragmented populations, not to talk of the continuous catches, illegal in Madagascar from 1994, destined to the sad market of terrarium reptiles © G. Mazza