B.C. cheetahs will not prosper as panel nixes permit request
NELSON — The owners of two cheetahs will not be allowed to return the large, African cats to southeastern British Columbia to use them as ambassador animals promoting conservation of the endangered species.
The Environmental Appeal Board, which considers issues raised under B.C.’s Wildlife Act, has refused to overturn a 2017 ruling denying a permit to move the cheetahs to Crawford Bay, north of Creston.
The appeal by Earl Pfeifer argued the permit denial relied on unsupported details about the dangers posed by cheetahs, as well as charges that were laid by the province, but later dropped, after one of the cats escaped in December 2015.
In a 37-page decision, the appeal board says Pfeifer and his partner, Carol Plato, have not offered any special circumstances that would allow the province to override legislation written in 2007 after a captive tiger fatally mauled a woman at a zoo-like attraction near Williams Lake.
The board panel, chaired by Linda Michaluk, questioned Pfeifer’s commitment to his safety protocols and his ability to control the seven-year-old cheetahs, Robin and Annie, which were described as “undisciplined” by a wildlife park operator in Alberta who briefly housed the cats.
It was Annie that escaped for a time in 2015.
Pfeifer and Plato had hoped to bring the pair to a property in Crawford Bay to use them for “education and outreach” aimed at children, after acquiring them from a South African reserve.
Without the permits, the cats remain in Ontario. Pfeifer said he rarely sees them.
A team member with Cheetah Outreach in South Africa told the hearing that cheetahs are the most docile of the large cats. She said Robin is blind but both he and Annie “are well-socialized and suitable as ambassador animals.”