Cheetahs in eastern Africa could be at risk of dying out within two years as cubs are stolen and sold to people who flaunt them as status symbols.
Dr Laurie Marker, Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), has expressed concern about the trade, explaining if action is not taken the animals could face extinction in the region.
There are thought to be around 300 wild cheetahs living in the Horn of Africa; a peninsula in northeast Africa encompassing Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Kenya. However, according to the CCF approximately 300 cubs – between two thirds and three quarters of all those born – are taken from the wild every year.
CCF said the trend is of ‘epidemic proportions’, CNN reports.
Dr. Marker commented:
If you do the math, the math kind of shows that it’s only going to be a matter of a couple of years [before] we are not going to have any cheetahs.
Speaking to MailOnline, the researcher explained the cubs may be taken either by local farmers trying to exterminate them or by poachers who then sell them to smugglers.
Marker believes around 75 percent of the animals will die in transit from malnutrition or as a result of broken bones suffered when they are packed into tiny crates to be shipped abroad.
The surviving animals are sold as pets, with prices often exceeding $6,000 (£4,800) per cheetah. Many social media posts taken in Saudi Arabia and the UAE show wealthy people flaunting the wild animals, with some driving them around in cars and others posing with them at home.
Last year, a CCF study documented 1,367 cheetahs for sale on social media platforms between January 2012 and June 2018, largely from Arab Gulf states.
Though both regions have laws banning the ownership of these kinds of pets, enforcement is lax.
After being sold, it’s thought most of the cheetahs will die within two years because their owners don’t know how to care for them properly. One vet told CNN he has seen cheetahs suffer from metabolic and digestive disorders because people don’t know what to feed them. He’s also come across cheetahs with stress-related diseases and obesity due to confinement.
Marker explained:
They don’t love these animals. They’ve found that having these pets is a status symbol. When one dies they simply go back to the wild and get another.
Marker set up the CCF in 1990, and through the organisation she aims to work with all stakeholders to ‘develop best practices in research, education and land use to benefit all species, including people.’
As concerns for the cheetah population in eastern Africa rises, Marker is calling for greater education in both Africa and the Middle East about the impact of cheetah smuggling. She also wants leaders in both regions to take a stand against the trade.
Discussing the issue, Marker said:
There is no sense that what is happening is wrong, so we need community leaders to be educated to that effect.
Education and training plays a really important role, but tribal and religious leaders need to lead by example
From a demand side, it comes from a top level down. Influencers such as Sheikhs and Princes need to be telling people that it isn’t something you should be doing.
Peer pressure needs to be happening in the demand side, laws won’t necessarily help because laws are only effective if you can enforce them.
The CCF works to rescue big cats and take them to a shelter, however many of the animals often face a bleak future. Some are unwell after poor treatment from smugglers and after being stolen at a young age they often have not developed the skills they need to survive in the wild.
Marker commented:
Cheetahs are such a special animal, you end up with these tiny cubs that have been pulled from their mothers and are very sickly.
A lot of them die and that’s heartbreaking, it’s horrible, devastating when that occurs. Wild animals should be left to live in the wild.
For the vulnerable animals, rescuers often have no choice but to keep them in rescue centres or special units until a long-term solution is found.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.