Red flag raised over cheetahs smuggling ring

A cheetah cub that was rescued from being smuggled. [Courtesy]

Global conservation networks have raised alarm over the intensifying smuggling of cheetahs trafficked out of East Africa through Somaliland to meet the rising pet trade in Arabian countries. The cheetahs, according to organisations are suspected to be originating from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Cheetah Conservation Fund and Four Paws indicates that an estimated 300 cheetahs are poached and smuggled in to Arabian Peninsula each year even with the dwindling population. It is estimated that 7,500 cheetahs currently live in the wild - a drastic drop from 100,000 a century ago.