Somaliland’s coast guard intercepted a dhow carrying eleven cheetah cubs bound for the illegal wildlife trade, one of the largest such seizures in recent years, officials and conservationists said Saturday.
The operation took place September 28 off the coast of Berbera, where authorities detained two Somaliland nationals and three Yemeni suspects accused of attempting to ferry the animals across the Gulf of Aden. The cubs, packed into sacks resembling potato bags, showed severe signs of malnutrition and dehydration after days at sea, officials said.
The animals were transferred to a rescue facility run by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Two cubs died within 24 hours, and two remain in critical condition despite intensive care.
“The cubs were in very poor condition,” said Laurie Marker, founder of CCF. “One died only a few hours after arriving, another the next day. Two remain critical, but seven are responding to treatment.”
Marker warned that demand for exotic pets in Gulf states is driving cheetahs toward extinction. “Cheetahs are not pets,” she said. “They are wild animals that play a vital role in ecosystems. With fewer than 7,000 left in the wild, we cannot afford to lose a single one.”
Somaliland, the self-declared republic that broke away from Somalia in 1991, has become a major transit hub for traffickers smuggling cheetahs and leopards to buyers in the Gulf. The territory’s lack of international recognition and limited enforcement capacity has made its coastline an attractive route.
Authorities have stepped up efforts in recent months. In August, police rescued ten additional cheetah cubs in another attempted shipment. Yet conservationists say the scale of trafficking persists, threatening biodiversity across the Horn of Africa.
Removing apex predators from the wild destabilizes ecosystems by altering prey populations, Marker noted. “Taking predators out of the wild disrupts prey populations and damages entire ecosystems,” she said.
The CCF, which now shelters 128 rescued cheetahs, works with Somaliland’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to rehabilitate the animals.
While a few may eventually be candidates for reintroduction, most remain too dependent on humans to survive in the wild.
Somaliland’s political isolation continues to hinder access to international conservation funding and enforcement networks. Still, local authorities have intensified cooperation with NGOs in an attempt to dismantle smuggling routes and raise public awareness about the cost of the trade.
