Illegal Trade Threatens the Cheetah’s Future

It’s International Cheetah Day, and like so many wild animals, cheetahs find themselves desperate for our protection. Just over the course of the last century, cheetah populations have plummeted from 100,000 to only around 6,500 mature individuals in the wild in 2021, the most recent estimate. While cheetahs used to range across much of Africa and parts of Asia, they are only now found in small pockets of their historical homelands, according to the IUCN Red List.

Threats to cheetahs are plentiful and include loss of habitat, climate change, prey loss, human-wildlife conflict, low genetic diversity, and illegal trade. Of these threats, illegal trade is arguably the easiest to address because drawing down demand draws down trade, yet the trade flourishes.

Cheetahs have been protected from international, commercial trade since 1975 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but the illegal trade persists, unfortunately. This illegal trade is driven largely by the luxury exotic pet markets across the Arabian peninsula. In fact, pet cheetahs feature in popular social media posts, sometimes laden in diamonds and riding in luxury cars. Cheetah cubs, often taken from the wild to supply the illegal pet trade, are especially vulnerable to risks in transport and improper care: As many as five of every six cubs die in transport before reaching their final destination. Others arrive with broken limbs and other injuries from the journey. Once captive as pets, cheetahs suffer from malnutrition, inadequate care, and high stress and their survival rates are low, with the majority dying within a year or two.

Demand for spotted cat furs, often used for decorative garments, also drives cheetah exploitation. Like so many other wild animals who end up as status symbols, human greed and ostentation are driving the cheetah’s extinction.

At the same time, poverty, hunger, and war challenge conservation efforts, particularly in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Somaliland, where many of the cheetahs seized in illegal trade have been taken from the wild. The black market price for a cheetah can range up to 15,000 USD, according to the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime’s World Wildlife Crime Report. Even though local farmers and others who acquire cheetahs in the wild only fetch 200 – 300 USD of this amount, it is enough to incentivize poaching to supplement family incomes. The solution to securing the cheetahs’ future must include not only using legal tools like CITES but also addressing the underlying economic conditions and the demand for exotic pets that facilitate illegal trade.

The extant populations of cheetahs are found in many of the countries where the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (GLA) has worked and where Lewis & Clark animal law alums live and work. The work of GLA, coupled with the network of animal advocates who have graduated from Lewis & Clark, is the hope and force we need to protect wild animals and their habitat. As magistrates, prosecutors, judges, and animal advocates continue to sharpen their focus and prioritize wildlife crime and organizations continue to solve the challenging root problems of poverty and hunger, we can create a world where the cheetah continues to roam wild and free.

This blog was written by Erica Lyman, Clinical Professor and Director of the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment. Professor Lyman has over fifteen years of experience in international environmental law, with a strong focus on wildlife protection issues. She also teaches Global Wild Animal Law in the online Animal Law advanced degree program. GLA was launched in the fall of 2020 as an innovative collaboration of the Center for Animal Law Studies and the top-ranked Environmental Law Program at Lewis & Clark Law School. GLA champions wild animals and wild spaces around the world. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in GLA’s work for academic credit.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.