A quest to find these masters of disguise, the little Cape dwarf chameleons turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. A friend tipped me off to a location out in the country – bearing in mind that they are rarely seen, a threatened species – I was excited to see if I could locate any. Their camouflage makes them hard to spot and sure enough they were well hidden. Eventually after a concerted effort peering intently – there they were, blending in magnificently with the foliage. The species is restricted to the Western Cape area and inhabits a range of different habitats and vegetation types, from fynbos and renosterveld, to indigenous Afrotemperate forests and wetlands.
WPC: Quest