Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 172510461

Conservation status of Tolley’s Forest Chameleon (Kinyongia tolleyae), a new species recently discovered in the Albertine Rift of Uganda

Chameleons are one of the most highly threatened reptile groups on the planet. Many of which we do not even know enough about to determine whether they need our help or not. This is especially true for recently discovered species that are often known from just a few records. Consequently, we set out to document the ecology and distribution of a newly described chameleon species in Central Africa, Tolley's Forest Chameleon (Kinyongia tolleyae). We want to understand how this chameleon species lives and the current health of its population so that we provide a complete conservation assessment.

We have just returned from a nearly 6-week long expedition to the Albertine Rift of western Uganda, Africa. We found the target species at three isolated montane sites and it seemed to be particularly abundant at two of them. We are now analyzing these data from the expedition to provide a new conservation outlook for this poorly known chameleon species.

Check out my National Geographic Open Explorer Blog about our 2018 expedition.