Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was reading the posts here on Jacksons in Hawaii and wanted to ask how they became established.
I imagine released,escaped pets? There was talk on eliminating them from Hawaii in the past are they still planning on doing that?

thanks
Luis

Here are two sites that tell you what you want to know about the
Jackson's in Hawaii. (Veileds are a different story.)

http://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawaii/waringreports/chameleon.htm
"The Jackson's chameleon became popular in the international
pet trade in the 1970's (Dodd 1982). They were shipped by the
thousands from Kenya primarily by exporter Jonathan Leakey.
Some (via a southern California reptile wholesaler) reached Oahu
legally in 1972 under a pet store import permit and were sold.
A second shipment was in poor condition; these chameleons were
released to recover on the property of the Kaneohe pet store
owner and subsequently became a free-ranging population."

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/bot350/1996/Reyes/reyes.htm
"In Hawaii, the Jackson's Chameleon feeds on a wide variety of
primarily introduced species of insects and other invertebrates
(ie. grasshoppers, crickets, flies, bees, butterflies, moths,
beetles, cockroaches and spiders). According to hundreds of
hours of field observations of this species in Hawaii, no
indication has been found that it will negatively
impact endemic species of invertebrates. (Mckeown, 1996)"

Thanks I found the info and both links very interesting.