Let the story begin long time ago. It was 1992 and my interest in reptiles was already strong. One of the very few persons that was already a herper that days, was Achilleas Dimitropoulos, working at the Goulandris Natural History Museum at the time. I had met him and had regular correspondence with him (no e-mail those days). Achilleas was in a position that could gather information from foreign herpers and scientists coming in Greece and looking around which was a difficult and rare thing (no internet those days). There was a rumour those old days that chameleons could be present on some places in Greece, apart from Samos that was rather sure. Crete, Chios and southern Peloponnese were all discussed. Achilleas had an information from somewhere but it was very vague and not sure at all. No GPS at those days too. He was not sure even if there was something. Herpetologist Henrick Bringsoe had searched for this animal and asked many locals in many places in southern Peloponnese, all without success. In a paper he had dismissed the rumours as plain rumours. But we had the general place in our minds.
It was summer and the day was hot. We drove to a beach now very well known amongst herpers all over Europe. (For reasons of protection of the animals it is our principle never to disclose the exact location of a place, so please, understand). We drove to the beach for a midday swim and then started to drive back. And there it was. A flat green lizard, with a spiral tail, dead on the road. It was very fresh- it wasn't there when we went to the beach. I drove slowly past the lizard, looking at it nonchalantly at the beginning, and then suddenly I realised what I was looking at. I stopped the car and was overwhelmed by the sight of this dead animal in front of me. I bent, took it in my hands and started to dance in the middle of the road, the beach-goers looking at me. That was the first time we had found a chameleon in Peloponnese and now we were sure for its existence and for the site.
After this event, many friends and other scientists searched, studied and photographed the animals, and these peculiar lizards became rock stars. It also became clear that the animals belonged to the species Chamaeleo africanus, the African chameleon, and not the Mediterranean chameleon Chamaeleo chamaeleon that can be naturally found on Samos. They had been introduced from north Africa, no one knows when. After 1992, we found two more introductions all in Peloponnese, no one knows who made them, and so we started to visit these animals to see how they were doing. We know, an introduced species generally is not good news for other species in the area, but chameleons don't seem to interfere with anything else. And they are so strange to observe!
More chameleon photos can be found at www.greeknature.com
