Tuesday 23 July 2019

Plight of the Lions: Always worth listening to Dereck and Beverly Joubert

Twenty nine cheetah cubs confiscated in Somaliland

In Somaliland on the horn of Africa 29 cheetah cubs have been rescued from the wildlife smuggling trade. They were destined for the illegal pet trade in the middle east.

The orphaned cubs were confiscated in Somaliland, which is known to be the main transit route for cheetahs trafficked out of East Africa .

The cheetah pet trade is thriving due to the high demand of wild animals as status symbol pets, particularly in the Gulf States. Many of them die on the way, or of malnourishment once in the hands of their new owners.

About 300 cheetahs are poached and smuggled into the Arabian Peninsula each year, for sale in the illegal pet trade. There are fewer than 7 500 cheetahs in the wild today, although there was a population of 100 000 a century ago.

Lack of space is one of the biggest problems for them, along with persecution by livestock farmers in Southern Africa.