MELAKA: A menagerie in Ayer Keroh here has decided to name 17 chameleon hatchlings after selected state constituencies in view of the ongoing Melaka election.

       Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary managing director Gerard Wong said the reptiles were successfully hatched during the campaign period.

       “Hence, we decided to tag each of these little ones based on the names of the state seats.

       “They will be called Ayer Keroh, Lendu, Asahan, Rembia, Kesidang, Bemban, and Duyong, among others,” he said in an interview.

       There arev28 state seats in Melaka, which goes to the polls on Nov 20.

       Wong said a female chameleon at the sanctuary named Lily laid a clutch of eggs earlier this year.

       “Lily is one of the adult chameleons at the sanctuary and she died soon after laying her eggs,” he added.

       Wong said zoologists at the sanctuary extracted the eggs from the soil underneath the ground where Lily had buried them.

       “The eggs were taken out from the soil for artificial incubation immediately.”

       He said the biggest challenge in incubating the eggs was to achieve the desired level of temperature over a 208-day incubation period.

       Wong said the incubator was developed by technicians at the sanctuary after factoring in the temperature and humidity needed to incubate the chameleon’s eggs

       The eggs measured about three grams in weight and two centimetres in length, he added.

       Wong said the Veiled Chameleon species originated from the Middle East, mainly in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

       It has an average lifespan of about five years, he added.