Geographic and ecological distribution of the endemic montane chameleons along the Cameroon mountain range

We report on observations of chameleons endemic to the Cameroon highlands between May 2003 and December 2005. Six species already known from this range were observed in the course of fieldwork. Our records extend the known range of Chamaeleo montium, C. pfefferi, and C. w. wiedersheimi to Koano and the Mbulu Hills. The later was also recorded on Mount Mbam. The species exhibit varied and overlapping altitudinal ranges and prefer primary montane forest (C. pfefferi, C. q. quadricornis, C. q. gracilior), submontane primary/secondary forest and farm bush (C. montium) and montane savanna grassland (C. w. wiedersheimi, C. wiedersheimi perreti). The most common subspecies was C. w. wiedersheimi while the rarest species was C. pfefferi. The night time perching habits of the species varied between the surveyed sites. On Mount Oku, individuals of C. w. wiedersheimi were observed at a mean perch height of 0.9 m while on Tchabal Mbabo individuals were observed at a mean perch height of 2.1 m resulting from disturbances of grazing cattle. The main threats are habitat destruction through wood cutting, savanna burning for cattle grazing and collection for trade.