Scientists are racing to save Madagascar’s iconic chameleons as flames close in

Excerpt from vox.com

I watched the fire from the edge of a dense forest in central Madagascar, a few hours northwest of Antananarivo, the country’s capital. It’s a special spot. This is one of the last remaining forests in the highlands of central Madagascar — a region devastated by decades of deforestation — and home to a raft of rare animals, including several species of chameleons.

This forest, which contains more than 400 species of trees, only exists because the area has been protected for decades. It’s part of a park called Ambohitantely Special Reserve that has managed to limit illegal logging, clearing land for agriculture, and other forces that have razed the other forests here and across much of Madagascar.