When Madagascar Burns, Chameleons Burn Too.

Every year, Madagascar burns. And every year, the heat, the smoke, and the devastating flames deepen the wounds of a landscape already scarred by centuries of degradation. Especially in the west, where the dry season stretches endlessly and rainfall grows ever more scarce, the fires carve irreparable damage into the soil, the forests, and the lives of those who depend on them. 

Fires are lethal to lemurs. Slow-moving and territorial, they cannot outrun the flames. Birds perish in nests. Amphibians desiccate. But some reptiles, especially chameleons, have evolved remarkable survival strategies.

Tiny leaf chameleons of the genus Brookesia burrow into leaf litter or soil, escaping the heat.

More astonishing are the middle-sized chameleons of the genus Furcifer, particularly Furcifer angeli, antimena, belalandaensis, labordi, voeltzkowi. These species lives only a few months. Hatching at the onset of the rainy season, they grow rapidly, reproduce, and die when the dry season comes. The lineage survives not through the individual, but through the eggs, buried deep in the soil, protected from drought and fire, waiting for the rains to return (Glaw & Vences 2007; Madcham.de 2024).

This paradoxical strategy (dying to survive) epitomizes the fragility and brilliance of Madagascar's evolutionary tapestry.

Fighting fires need help. If you are ready, contact me at petr@arcrestoration.org and/or go to ARC: www.arcrestoration.org