Taxonomic notes: Accepted as Kinyongia tenuis in Tilbury and Tolley (2009). The status of the Shimba Hills population as belonging to this taxon needs to be confirmed.
Following methods of Shirk et al. (in prep), K. tenuis densities had weak positive correlation with the distance to the edge of a patch and very weak negative correlations with patch area and patch isolation. Apparent densities were much higher in March-May (rainy season) than during Sept-Oct (dry season).
Anecdotal: R. spinosus and Kinyongia tenuis are very similar in size and shape and inhabit similar heights in trees. R. spinosus were almost always found in forest interiors and higher quality habitat, whereas K. tenuis were generally found in low quality forest, along edges, and in altered habitat that still had some trees present. I observed at least as many K. tenuis on recreational surveys near Amani headquarters in highly modified habitat (but with enough large trees still present to form a connected canopy) as I did on surveys for research, despite substantially more effort on research surveys. I never observed any in highly disturbed habitat such as tea plantations or shamba that did not have many trees.
nice observations filups i have been staying in usambara all my childhood days and now return again after being away for like 15 years outside usambara and outside my country, all i can say is during my travels i have been observed may types of chamelions and their abundance found in northern malawi, northen south africa as well, the usambara mountains to me still break the record, but the sad storry is that in the past i recall encounter many chamelions along road sides and in some cases even inside the house tha made us very scared of them as kids, these days especialy n dry season chamelions are not seen that much often as it was in the past, what i can advice as a lover of nature is that much studies should be done on their decline, just list them in red list and do nothing here in their natural habitats wont help a thing, this is something organizations involving in conservation activity should pay a focus especialy due to the fact that now in usambara mountains we have a high learning institution that is involving in research and nature conservation like the SEBASTIAN KOLOWA MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY that is situated adjacent to magamba nature reserve in lushoto by usambara mountains...thee are very good insttutions to work with and discover more about the local community and the indangered species...
Along 32.2 km of transects in and around Amani Nature Reserve surveyed between Sept. 2010 and May 2011, we observed 17 individuals. Following the methods of Shirk et al. (in prep) we estimated densities of 0 (95% credible interval = 0 to 1) to 5 (0 to 28) individuals per ha in various fragments near Amani Nature Reserve and 0.33 /ha (0.1 to 1.1) in Amani Nature Reserve. Total population size in forests [note that this species also occurs outside of 'forest'] within the East Usambara plateau at elevations above 850 m is approximately 6,000 (25 to 10.9 million), a 61% decline from historical levels (-97% to 10,000%). Approximately 85% of the remaining population in the study area is found in protected forests (Amani and Nile Nature Reserves).
Annual CITES export quotas for K. tenuis between 2002 and 2013 ranged from 16-30 (22 average) captive born individuals per year from Tanzania (CITES 2013). Between 1977 and 2011 (2012 and 2013 trade data is incomplete or unavailable) a total of 217 live individuals were exported from Tanzania for the pet trade (total of all commercial exports), of which 107 were reported as wild collected and an additional 30 did not specify a sourse (UNEP-WCMC 2013). Of the 137 aforementioned individuals, 130 were exported in 1985 and 1993 (UNEP-WCMC 2013). All other exports for the pet trade occurred between 2003 and 2011, during which time 2-18 individuals were exported per year (UNEP-WCMC 2013). No other trade is reported, although specimens of this species are known to have been brought in among shipments of "assorted pygmy chameleons" without documents (Anderson, personal observation), suggesting illegal trade and/or harvest may occur on a limited basis.
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