The dynamics of the global trade in chameleons

The global trade in chameleons from 1977 to 2001 is reviewed using the compiled import data for chameleons from the CITES database. African countries accounted for 96% of reported exports, with Madagascar, Tanzanaia and Togo dominating the trade, while the USA dominated the import market with 69% of individuals. Chamaeleo senegalensis accounted for 25% of exports; only eight of the other 96 exported species each contributed more than 3% of the total 845,000 recorded exports. High exports in the late 1970s declined, with the exit of Kenya from the trade, to approximately 3000 individuals in 1982, before rising again to record exports of 81,000 individuals in 2001. Reported captive bred and ranched individuals form a small but increasing contribution to the trade. Contributions of individual countries to the changing pattern of trade are discussed in relation to governance issues. While national and international legislation has been successful in regulating the reported exports from the dominant exporting nations in the 1990s, the continuing rise in demand has led to that demand being satisfied by an increase in exports from other countries and, in particular, Uganda, Benin, Mozambique, Yemen and Comoros.