Chamaeleo calyptratus, Florida, USA

Chamaeleo calyptratus, Florida USA, courtesy Nick Spiller

The veiled chameleon was first documented in Florida in 2002 from Fort Myers (Lee County) in a vacant lot (Krysko, Enge, and King 2004) after introduction through the pet trade from 2000–2001. Additional introductions have been recorded in Hendry County (Enge 2008), Miami-Dade County (Gillette and Krysko 2012), and Broward County (Edwards et al. 2014). Based on EDDMaps and museum records, populations of this species are likely established in other counties. Veiled chameleons in Florida have been observed in vegetation including avocado, Brazilian pepper, castor bean, and carrotwood (Krysko, Enge, and Moler 2019; Metzger and Ginoza 2021).

An Article by National Geographic, regretfully full of inaccuracies and mistakes. 

The author wanted to make it a sensation, so, she did: soo sorry to see such ignorance and incompetence at NG...: