JUST three weeks old and only 4cm long, the latest spring arrivals represent a first for Taronga Zoo.

Reptile expert at the zoo, Dion Hobcroft, said all the staff were “really excited about the Jackson births, as it is the first time they’ve bred at Taronga Zoo”.

Green with envy: A three-week-old Jackson’s chameleon climbs off a male’s horn at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo yesterdayPicture: AFP; Photo: Photo

JUST three weeks old and only 4cm long, the latest spring arrivals represent a first for Taronga Zoo.

This is the first time the unusual Jackson’s chameleon of East Africa has given birth — to 22 young.

Mothers are “ovoviviparous” — they produce eggs that are hatched within the body — so the young are born alive but without thenormal placental attachment of mammals.

There are usually two litters, of up to 50 young, each year.

The baby Jackson chameleons are unable to change colour until they are about four months old.

Reptile expert at the zoo, Dion Hobcroft, said all the staff were “really excited about the Jackson births, as it is the first time they’ve bred at Taronga Zoo”.

Although best known for their ability to change colour, Jackson chameleons are normally bright green, perfect camouflage for hiding in the East African mountain forests.

If cornered, they inflate their bodies and give a menacing hiss.

Jackson chameleons are insectivores, living primarily on insects such as crickets and worms. They drink water off the leaves of trees after rain.

In the wild, the chameleons live to about three years.