A Croatian man arrested for trying to smuggle 175 chameleons from Thailand told border guards he choose the lizards because they would be harder to see.
Dragos Radovic, 25, was arrested at Zagreb airport after flying in from Bangkok, Thailand when customs officers said they saw the top of a bag he was carrying appeared to be moving.
When they asked him to open up his luggage they found the endangered reptiles, reportedly worth £60,000 on the black market. He paid just £100 for them in a Thai market.
Radovic said: "The man who sold them said they changed colour to make themselves invisible against any background, but it did not work."
Vets who were called to treat the reptiles said they were dehydrated and distressed from the flight, and as a result had lost their ability to change colour.
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