Chameleons as food?

broderp

Avid Member
I don't want to be banned or anything, but I was having a discussion at work about chams and it came up.

"If they are so popular, they are probably being eaten my the native people in the area or fed to pets as food." <-- That was the comment that was said that prompted my question.

Are there any cultures or places where these guys are considered dinner?

Some cultures eat dogs, and cats and other animals that in western society would seem odd or cruel.

I mean, if I were stranded on a remote island off of of Africa and chams were there, I would eat them to survive, but other than nature (snakes etc.) do they have man as a dangerous predator? (aside from taking over thier habitat)
 
To be completely honest if panther chameleons grew larger i believe they would be hunted for leather. I could only imagine what people would do for a unique crazy colored purse,belt,wallet, jacket. Its a horrible thing to think of but i imagine it has happened
 
I'm sure in some parts they are but actually in most cultures native to chameleon habitats they are seen as evil spirits or people are afraid of them. So some civilizations do kill them, but because they see them as embodiments of evil spirits rather than to eat them.
 
I'm sure in some parts they are but actually in most cultures native to chameleon habitats they are seen as evil spirits or people are afraid of them. So some civilizations do kill them, but because they see them as embodiments of evil spirits rather than to eat them.

The people I met in Madagascar were usually wary of disturbing or handling chams. It varied a lot depending where we were. Some people were outright afraid of them, some wouldn't disturb them because it was disrespectful of an ancestral spirit, and some just left them alone to avoid bad luck coming down on them or a family member. I watched cars swerve completely around a tiny cham crossing a road. I highly doubt they are eaten in Madagascar. Don't know about places in Africa.
 
To be completely honest if panther chameleons grew larger i believe they would be hunted for leather. I could only imagine what people would do for a unique crazy colored purse,belt,wallet, jacket. Its a horrible thing to think of but i imagine it has happened

Chams lose their coloration when they die. They turn a dull dark brown or black. No patterns or markings. This probably saved some species entirely as I'm sure they would have been hunted to extinction if their color persisted.
 
The people I met in Madagascar were usually wary of disturbing or handling chams. It varied a lot depending where we were. Some people were outright afraid of them, some wouldn't disturb them because it was disrespectful of an ancestral spirit, and some just left them alone to avoid bad luck coming down on them or a family member. I watched cars swerve completely around a tiny cham crossing a road. I highly doubt they are eaten in Madagascar. Don't know about places in Africa.

This made me smile. Makes me wonder how so many are captured for export and treated so badly..:confused:
 
To be completely honest if panther chameleons grew larger i believe they would be hunted for leather. I could only imagine what people would do for a unique crazy colored purse,belt,wallet, jacket. Its a horrible thing to think of but i imagine it has happened
Their skin does not remain spectacular when they die, it actually becomes very dull and ugly, so they would be safe from the leather industry.
 
This made me smile. Makes me wonder how so many are captured for export and treated so badly..:confused:

Well, non-Malagasy collectors capture and export them and I'm sure some residents now bring them to these collectors for cash. Some claim they are "farming" (only selling offspring of wc adults). Farming isn't always honest and can be deceiving...may be nothing more than collecting wc animals and releasing them into an enclosure until they breed, lay a clutch, are exported, or die.
 
To be completely honest if panther chameleons grew larger i believe they would be hunted for leather. I could only imagine what people would do for a unique crazy colored purse,belt,wallet, jacket. Its a horrible thing to think of but i imagine it has happened
You know, I don't think that would be worth it. The cham needs to be alive for it to fluctuate how the pigments are in it's skin to set it's mood/basking/etc. With it being dead, I would assume it would be either a neutral colour (ie brown/black/etc) or maybe at most, it's resting colours... I mean think about it, when a cham is dying/dead, it turns black. :S That's my assumption anyways.


At my old job, we often had conversations about cannibalism. We established that asians (because of their diet) would taste the best. :p
That being said? I honestly think they might taste pretty decent considering their diet. And like you said, while in western culture, eating such things is a no no - who's to say in other cultures it isn't their norm? I don't see why not.
Like really. Lion King taught me all I need to know in life - the great circle of life - everything is food for something else.
Wonder what cham would taste like. :/ Hmmm
 
When I was in Ethiopia - people were scared of them- even though mine was local to the country- I would get strange looks constantly - We were told that they would kill our animals by locals and most Americans thought they were poisonous to dogs and cats (we had brought our dogs with us from NJ when we went for the originally 2 years we were to be there). Most of the country is Christian where I was but the form of Christianity dates back to the Queen of Sheba - and keeps to very strict eating habits. No pork - lots of fasting and days where any meat is forbidden. This was back in 1969-1974

They have folk tails that have them as sneaky http://www.ethiopianfolktales.com/en/snnpr/omo-zone/263-lightning-and-thunder-
The Bantu in South Africa have a different take -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_mythology
 
Chams lose their coloration when they die. They turn a dull dark brown or black. No patterns or markings. This probably saved some species entirely as I'm sure they would have been hunted to extinction if their color persisted.

Right, I wouldnt be surprised if native people thought they had "magic powers", like rhino horns, and kill them to make some kind of magic potion :rolleyes:
 
..........At my old job, we often had conversations about cannibalism. We established that asians (because of their diet) would taste the best. :p ....

:eek: Wow.... I'll keep my comments to myself on this... :D

.... I honestly think they might taste pretty decent considering their diet. And like you said, while in western culture, eating such things is a no no - who's to say in other cultures it isn't their norm? I don't see why not.
Like really. Lion King taught me all I need to know in life - the great circle of life - everything is food for something else.
Wonder what cham would taste like. :/ Hmmm

BUT, since you DID go there ^^^^.......bet they taste like CHICKEN! :)
 
I lived in Kenya for a few years...found a little chameleon in the bushes and brought him into the classroom on my finger - cleared out the classroom. CLEARED OUT. Very interesting lore around all things lizard in that area.
 
I was told by an old british customer in my store who had spent his childhood in Africa that the native population in that area believed the chameleons to be poisonous. He used to scare his caretakers with them.

Reading the other comments this seems to be in line with what others are saying.
 
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