{"id":1517,"date":"2025-11-18T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2025-11-21T19:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:13:13","slug":"scientists-are-racing-to-save-madagascars-iconic-chameleons-as-flames-close-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/18\/scientists-are-racing-to-save-madagascars-iconic-chameleons-as-flames-close-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists are racing to save Madagascar\u2019s iconic chameleons as flames close in"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tA juvenile globe-horned chameleon clings to a branch in Ambohitantely Special Reserve, a protected area in the Central Highlands of Madagascar.\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS, Madagascar \u2014 The flames were close. Moving like lava across the rolling hills, just a few miles away, a wildfire lit up the night sky with orange smoke.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

I watched the fire from the edge of a dense forest in central Madagascar, a few hours northwest of Antananarivo, the country\u2019s capital. It\u2019s a special spot. This is one of the last remaining forests in the highlands of central Madagascar \u2014 a region devastated by decades of deforestation \u2014 and home to a raft of rare animals, including several species of chameleons. <\/p>\n

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This story is part of a series<\/h2>\n

You\u2019re reading the final story of a three-part series<\/a> on conservation in Madagascar, supported by the BAND Foundation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This forest, which contains more than 400 species of trees, only exists because the area has been protected for decades. It\u2019s part of a park called Ambohitantely Special Reserve that has managed to limit illegal logging, clearing land for agriculture, and other forces that have <\/strong>razed the other forests here and across much of Madagascar<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As I learned that night, however, even the best forms of protection have a limit, especially as the planet warms. <\/p>\n

Now, truly protecting ecosystems like this one \u2014 and saving some of the world\u2019s most extraordinary creatures \u2014 requires a more proactive approach. <\/p>\n

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If you stumble upon a wild animal in Madagascar, there\u2019s a good chance it lives nowhere else on the planet. Madagascar, a large island nation <\/strong>situated just east of continental Africa, has been isolated from other land masses for millions of years, giving animals there plenty of time to evolve into new species. That\u2019s why around 90 percent of the country\u2019s plants and animals are endemic, meaning they only live there \u2014 including all lemurs<\/a> and nearly half of the world\u2019s 200-plus species of chameleons. <\/p>\n

Ambohitantely Special Reserve happens to be a hotspot for both. <\/p>\n

\"Lush\"A<\/p>\n

On a chilly night in September, at the end of Madagascar\u2019s winter, I walked through the forest of Ambohitantely with Fandresena Rakotoarimalala, a doctoral researcher at the University of Antananarivo who studies chameleons in the reserve. Chameleons are famously very good at hiding \u2014 their thing, of course, is blending in. But under the beam of a flashlight, they appear pale white, making them far easier to spot. That\u2019s why we were out at night.<\/p>\n

We walked slowly through the forest, scanning the foliage with our headlamps and batting away insects the light attracted. We heard the grunt of brown lemurs in the canopy overhead. At one point, we stumbled upon a tenrec<\/a> \u2014 a spine-covered mammal that looks like a hedgehog \u2014 wandering around the forest floor.<\/p>\n

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Like many of Madagascar\u2019s most iconic species, chameleons are in trouble. The island nation has around 100 chameleon species, and roughly half of them are threatened with extinction, largely due to a loss of their habitat, according to<\/a> the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, a global authority on endangered species.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what made this night walk so special. <\/p>\n

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Key takeaways<\/h2>\n