West Usambara two-horned chameleon
The West Usambara two-horned chameleon or West Usambara blade-horned chameleon is a species of chameleon endemic to the West Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Until 2008, it was generally confused with Fischer's chameleon, which is not found in the Usambara Mountains. None of its close relatives occur in the same range as K. multituberculata, but K. matschiei and K. vosseleri are restricted to the East Usambaras.
Habitat and conservation
This species inhabits Afrotemperate forests of the West Usambara Mountains at elevations of above sea level. It can also occur in modified vegetation adjacent to forest patches and on shrubs and trees by roadsides. However, it requires structurally complex habitats and does not range across transformed landscapes.The forest patches suffer from timber removal and resource utilization, and habitat is being lost to encroachment and transformation for agriculture. The habitat is highly fragmented, and better protection of forest reserves is needed. Like other chameleons, K. multituberculata is listed on CITES, meaning that legal international trade requires a permit. This species was estimated to be one of the most heavily exported chameleons from East Africa for the international pet trade, especially at the time when it was still traded as part of K. fischeri; it is estimated that more than 95% of "K. fischeri" exported from Tanzania actually were K. multituberculata. After its recognition as a separate species by CITES, Tanzania initially allowed limited legal exports of K. multituberculata, but stopped it after 2017.