Cheetah’s could go extinct in eastern Africa within two years as their cubs are smuggled and sold to wealthy Arab men.
According to Dr. Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, three-quarters of cubs are being stolen and sold to smugglers!
It is believed that the animals could die out in two years if there will be no action to stop the trade.
Photos and videos shared on Instagram and uncovered by Mail Online show how wealthy men in the UAE and Saudi Arabia show off their big cats as status symbols, posing with the feline at home, and driving around with them.
Dr. Marker, who has spent years researching populations of cheetah in Africa, said there are 300 wild cheetahs living in the Horn of Africa.
She believes around 300 cubs are stolen every year, either by poachers or local farmers, and sold to smugglers who bring the animals to the Arabian Peninsula.
But most of the cheetahs die within two years as their wealthy owners don’t know how to properly take good care of them.
“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,” said Dr. Marker.
Dr. Marker is now calling for greater education in the Middle East and Africa about the impact of smuggling animals and for leaders to make prompt actions.
“There is no sense that what is happening is wrong, so we need community leaders to be educated to that effect,” she said.
“Education and training plays a really important role, but tribal and religious leaders need to lead by example.”
She continued: “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.”
Dr. Marker added: “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.”
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