Ampiskiana Panther Locale

[melric]

All the pics were of captive breeders or animals for sale on those sites. Im looking for actual footage from the field. Ive seen actual photos of falys on the island. Same with mitsios and ambanjas, etc... That would help prove that their actually a seperate locale & give an actual location...

I say take a field trip. haha. I would love to go, but 24+ hours in a plane doesn't sound like fun.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Wish I could...
I just dont trust any exporter or importers claims about any locales. Without actual field notes and photos to substantiate the claims I aint buying in. We had Ardi Abate and the Cin doing alot of research along with others back in the early to mid 90's. They gave us alot of actual field photos of the different locales and the locations where they were photographed and found. I know they didnt get to take pics of every locale but others have taken over and done a good job at locating and photographing the newer and less common locales. Seems like somebody would have posted pics of these guys by now with the popularity of eco tourism today....

 

[Kent67]

Has anyone out there gone on one of the eco trips and actually photographed some in person?

No. No one has. Know why? 'Cuz "Ampiskiana" doesn't exist on any map made by someone other than a pardalis breeder. Wanna have some more fun? Do a Google internet (not a photo search) search for the other known pardalis locale-types and see how many are about pardalis vs anything else.

Ambilobe = 1st three pages of results are 7 pardalis-related and 19 not chameleon-related.
Sambava = 1st three pages are 1 pardalis-related and 24 not chameleon-related.
Ambanja = 1st three pages are 4 pardalis-related and 23 are not chameleon-related.
Nosy Be = 1st three pages are ZERO pardalis-related (I was shocked, even) and 26 non-chameleon related
Ampiskiana = 1st SEVEN PAGES are ALL pardalis-related and not a single hit about a place in Madagascar.
Boy, Google must really love those Ampiskiana panthers, huh?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/locality
lo·cal·i·ty   /loʊˈkælɪti/ Show Spelled[loh-kal-i-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural -ties.
1. a place, spot, or district, with or without reference to things or persons in it or to occurrences there: They moved to another locality.
2. the state or fact of being local or having a location: the locality that every material object must have.

If there isn't a place, perhaps it would be best to call these pardalis a color morph or color form.

 

[eisentrauti]

People forget one extremely important point: Of course it's no problem to find the differences between some (not all localities) BUT did everyone here catched his/her animals personally from exact those places ? No !
So imagine a trapper has the order to get 10 pairs of let's say Nosy Bes. So good so far. But he just finds 10.6. Mmh, not ideal. What would you do if you were the trapper who gets 5? $ for every head, knowing that your whole family depends on this income ? Come home to the exporteur getting less cash or catching some other females on the road back.
Mmh. Really difficult Or not

 

[Justin Ward]

and whos to say that someone didnt captive breed Ambato's and Nosy Be's and release them all on the island of Nosy Faly...truth is, nobody knows...im sure that there are more than 15-20 locales in Mada that are home to pardalis, we just have to go by what we think we know to be true...if i were an exproter, i would make up a locale more sought after if i could get 3 times the money for it...whos to say that these exporters dont keep the best looking ones for their own captive projects to create a locale to release in an area...just sometihing to think about

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Who is to say that we are not just the imagination of some greater being that is imagining us imagining panther chameleons. Maybe we are made up and Ampiskiana is where the master computer is. The information may have been leaked to someone who is able to cross over from here to ampiskiana.

Could explain the deja vu we all experience at some point.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

I say take a field trip. haha. I would love to go, but 24+ hours in a plane doesn't sound like fun.

The plane ride does not sound fun at all but I am sure you would forget all about it until it was time to leave maddy and go home.

 

[Justin Ward]

The plane ride does not sound fun at all but I am sure you would forget all about it until it was time to leave maddy and go home.

lets see if we can get a group rate haha

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

lets see if we can get a group rate haha

I'm in!

 

[Chris Anderson]

Locality designations are estimates of geographic range, and thus the coloration and pattern naturally occurring within that geographic area. While we don't always know for sure exactly the location an imported specimen was collected from or the proximity of that location to the geographical area described by the name of a locale, a knowledge base of what animals from given areas look like exists, is ever growing and is accessible. This knowledge base can be used to aid in categorizing specimens into locality designations. Because a knowledge base exists that aids us in categorizing specimens into an estimated geographic range, locality designations can be a beneficial tool if care is taken to prove out animals and take precautions to minimize introduction of genes from animals that appear to clearly fall outside the given geographic range.

Unfortunately, when locality names are just made up, like Ampiskiana has been, collecting a knowledge base to help accurately categorize specimens becomes increasingly difficult. This is because our knowledge becomes entirely reliant on the representations of the "locale" provided by those who are marketing the animals themselves. In the case of locales tied to real places, our knowledge base is complimented by wild observations from those who have traveled to the locales and documented their natural characteristics in the wild.

From everything I have been able to tell, Ampiskiana as a place does not exist. While the pardalis sold as Ampiskiana may "be recognized worldwide except in California", this does not change the questionability of "Ampiskiana" as an accurate estimate of geographic range, and the coloration and pattern naturally occurring within that geographic area. Also, you should probably add Madagascar to the list of places that don't recognize Ampiskiana as a pardalis locality, as to quote Olaf Pronk, "I have not sure what people mean when they talk about Ampsikiana, Ampisikiana or Ampikiana pardalis, to be honest! I assume they mean the locality near Vohemar, at least the chameleons I see advertised as one of the above mentioned names to me look like normal Vohemar pardalis."

Chris

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

"be recognized worldwide except in California"
Chris

New Hampshire is also know to be skeptical.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

New Hampshire is also know to be skeptical.

So is Texas! lol You can now refer to us as the "Show Me" state.

 

[Kent67]

Also, you should probably add Madagascar to the list of places that don't recognize Ampiskiana as a pardalis locality, as to quote Olaf Pronk, "I have not sure what people mean when they talk about Ampsikiana, Ampisikiana or Ampikiana pardalis, to be honest!

"Olaf, the Great?" "Olaf, the best and most accurate exporter in Madagascar?" I bet he's just trying to keep the "locale" a secret.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Yeah I think I'd trust a used car salesman before I started trusting some of the exporters we have to deal with in this hobby...

 

[Todnedo]

This locale seems to be recognized worldwide except in California

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/foru...panther-chameleons-ampiskiana-sub-adults.html

http://www.chameleonden.co.uk/locales.html

http://www.pantherchameleoncaresheet.com/

http://irishreptiles.com/gallery.html

http://visionwild.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/panther-chameleon/

http://www.reptiletrader.co.uk/reptiles/RT02420

I love stirring the Ampiskiana pot

 

[seanUTD]

Who is to say that we are not just the imagination of some greater being that is imagining us imagining panther chameleons. Maybe we are made up and Ampiskiana is where the master computer is. The information may have been leaked to someone who is able to cross over from here to ampiskiana.

Could explain the deja vu we all experience at some point.

Someone is going deep into Sophie's World with this post.... Lol Bet the OP didn't see this coming haha

 

[alexbrock]

I will be accepting paypal payments to fund my next vacation. I will go out and seek this animal. So please contribute to the cause. haha.

 

[robmd1]

I will be accepting paypal payments to fund my next vacation. I will go out and seek this animal. So please contribute to the cause. haha.

lol your goin be lost if the guy who knows the island cant find em.. ill save my money.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

So is Texas! lol You can now refer to us as the "Show Me" state.

Added to the list!

I love stirring the Ampiskiana pot

I do too.

 

[Geckoxp]

Here in NY we can't ask what local anyone comes from with the new legislation passed...thats been replaced by a box you fill in to just say your alive.