Trioceros johnstoni
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (from a photograph by Frank Glaw, Jörn Köhler, Ted M. Townsend & Miguel Vences) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Trioceros johnstoni, known commonly as Johnston's chameleon, Johnston's three-horned chameleon, and the Ruwenzori three-horned chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to highlands in the Albertine Rift in central Africa. It reaches up to 30 cm (12 in) in total length (including tail). Only the adult male has three horns. The female is hornless.
The three long annulated horns in the male T. johnstoni makes it superficially similar to T. jacksonii and T. werneri, and to an extent also to the short-horned T. fuelleborni and the smooth-horned T. oweni, but they are not close relatives. Its nearest relative is the hornless T. ituriensis.
The specific name johnstoni was given in honour of the British explorer Harry Johnston. T. johnstoni is found in forests at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,500 m (3,300–8,200 ft) in the Albertine Rift of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Burundi, western Rwanda, and southwestern Uganda, but also tolerates semi-urbanized environments as long as some trees and bushes remain.
Males of T. johnstoni are fiercely... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Johnston's Chameleon sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Johnston's Chameleon in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. April has too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Johnston's Chameleon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Johnston's Chameleon sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 50%) and Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Johnston's Chameleon is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Virunga National Park (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
