Mapping Illicit Trafficking Networks and Strengthening Law Enforcement Capacity to Combat Cheetah Trade in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

Dr. Paul Evangelista (PI) and Dr. Darin Schulte

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and is protected as an Appendix 1 species by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Global population estimates suggest that only 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild, a decrease from an estimated 14,000 just 40 years prior. Once found throughout most of Africa and southwest Asia, cheetahs are only known to occur in 9% of their historic range — of this, 77% is outside protected areas.

The purpose of this project is to counter illicit trafficking of live cheetahs in Somaliland and the greater East Africa-Arabian Peninsula region. The extent of the project includes multiple countries where wild cheetahs are known to occur in East Africa and where the demand for pet cheetahs has been reported in the Arabian Peninsula. Targeted efforts to identify undetected wild populations and strengthen law enforcement capacity will be centered on Somaliland, which is believed to have undocumented wild populations and is a bottleneck of cheetah trafficking activities. Recognizing the problem, the Somaliland government recently approved the new Forestry and Wildlife Conservation Law to lay the legal framework necessary to combat wildlife trafficking. Although a critical first step, the government's capacity to enforce the law remains significantly undeveloped.

This project will conserve and protect wild cheetah populations in Somaliland and East Africa by addressing the illicit trafficking of live animals from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. The goal of the project is to disrupt and reduce the illicit trade of live cheetahs trafficked in Somaliland through effective enforcement of wildlife laws and enhanced capacity of law enforcement and judicial authorities. The project aims to 1) update range maps for wild cheetah populations in Somaliland and East Africa increasing our knowledge of their distribution and potential sources for trafficking, 2) develop cheetah trafficking models to map patterns of probable transport routes from wild populations in East Africa to buyers in the Arabian Peninsula, 3) increase the capacity of Somaliland law enforcement and judiciary authorities to investigate, interdict, prosecute and prevent trafficking of cheetahs in the field and the courts, and 4) use cheetah trafficking models and developed skillsets to guide law enforcement interventions and increase the arrests and prosecutions of traffickers in Somaliland. The primary beneficiaries of the proposed project will be wildlife law enforcement officials in Somaliland, particularly investigators from the Wildlife Department and prosecutors from the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.

For more information on this project, contact Paul Evangelista at paul.evangelista@ColoState.EDU