Video captured of Mimophis mahfalensis eating a chameleon in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.
British wildlife photographer Paula Webster was in Madagascar last year when she came across an encounter between a chameleon (Chamaeleoninae) and a common big-eyed snake (Mimophis mahfalensis). She captured the footage in the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, which encompasses 155 square kilometers of protected rainforest located in eastern Madagascar. Webster, who has been shooting wildlife and travel videos for 15 years, told The Sun that she was initially thrilled to see "such a fantastic display of animal behavior, "but then felt guilty at being excited at watching one animal kill another." The footage is interesting in that the chameleon makes no attempt to escape.
Madagascar is a biological hotspot for reptiles and chameleons. It is home to one of the smallest chameleons in the world, a leaf chameleon called Brookesia micra, which can crawl on your fingernails, as well as amphibians, turtles and tortoises, boa constrictors and colubrid snakes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 2011 published its list stating that 40 percent of Madagascar's reptiles are threatened with extinction and 22 species are critically endangered, including the Tarzan's chameleon (Calumma tarzan), the bizarre-nosed chameleon (Calumma hafahafa), and the limbless skink, (Paracontias fasika). The IUCN also listed 26 recently discovered amphibians to its Red List.
