UAE A ‘KEY ALLY’ IN SHUTTING DOWN ILLEGAL CHEETAH TRADE
▶ Information on sellers and buyers is passed on to the authorities to push for prosecutions
A 10-year study is shedding light on the trafficking of highly endangered cheetahs to the Gulf.
Researchers trawled through 60,000 online adverts to understand the extent of the trade.
Trafficking cases compiled by experts in Mexico, Israel and Namibia were published in the academic journal Science Direct.
Their investigation revealed more than 1,800 instances of trafficking and that at least 4,184 cheetahs have been taken from Africa to the Gulf since 2009.
Only 7,000 cheetahs exist in the wild.
Hiba Al Shehhi, acting director of biodiversity at the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said the authorities were continuing to tighten border controls and tackle the illegal trade.
“Most of these adverts are posted by fake accounts outside the country,” Ms Al Shehhi said. “We are monitoring such sites.”
In 2016, the UAE introduced a federal law banning the possession of predatory, dangerous and semi-dangerous animals, including cheetahs, without a special permit.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE all appeared on a list of countries where the online selling of endangered animals took place.
Of those recorded incidents, 87 per cent were of live animals. The rest involved parts or derivatives of cheetahs.
Patricia Tricorache, an expert on the illegal wildlife trade living in Mexico City, who led the research, said: “We monitored sellers’ accounts that were brought to our attention by confidential informants who had dealt with them or are part of their networks.
“One of these informants provided us with Instagram usernames of the five largest sellers in the UAE.”
The report highlighted the extent of illegal activities involving cheetahs by sharing an in-depth data set of potential trafficking routes, black-market prices and the extent of online selling networks.
Information has been passed on to the authorities to enable prosecutions and further training among law enforcement and border control.
More than 300 sources supplied data, including field informants, vets, cheetah owners, government officials and reports published by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), a multilateral treaty to protect animals and plants.
The highest number of cheetahs – 42 per cent of the total – originated in Somaliland, in the Horn of Africa. Kenya accounted for 12 per cent of the trafficked animals, while 10 per cent came from neighbouring Ethiopia.
Iran was responsible for three recorded trafficking cases.
The other 41 nations referred to in the data included transit or destination countries, with 60 per cent of cheetahs recorded in Saudi Arabia, 14 per cent in Kuwait and 13 per cent in the UAE.
More than 2,300 online adverts were recorded by the researchers, representing 528 different sellers.
Cites places the cheetah on its list of most endangered animals.
Although it is illegal to sell wild cheetah, captive-bred cats can be traded by two registered centres only, both in South Africa. Trade routes between the Horn of Africa and the GCC remain lucrative for cheetah smugglers.
According to the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, between 2010 and 2019, 37 live cheetahs from different countries were confiscated at UAE points of entry.
Most of these were seized between 2010 and 2014. From 2015 to 2018 no confiscations of cheetahs were recorded.
However, in 2019, four cats were intercepted and taken to zoos.
The care of confiscated animals is one of several new UAE development projects to protect endangered animals.
The National Team for Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade was formed to co-ordinate anti-trafficking legislation and enforcement across the region, and is working with Cites to prevent online cheetah sales.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund in Somaliland is at the forefront of rehabilitation programmes for rescued cheetahs that had been destined for international markets.
Laurie Marker, the fund’s executive director, said the UAE was an important partner in wildlife conservation on the Arabian Peninsula and in Africa.
“By working with governments in the Horn of Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula to conserve cheetahs, we will make the best progress,” she said.
“Somaliland and the UAE have grown to become key allies for CCF in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade and in helping keep cheetahs in the wild.”
An investigation revealed that at least 4,184 cheetahs were moved from Africa to the Gulf since 2009