Illegal wildlife trafficking of cheetah cubs from East Africa to Gulf states creates significant welfare suffering and threatens the survival of already-endangered cheetah populations.
The cheetah cub trade causes extreme welfare harm at every stage. Mothers are often killed to access cubs, who are then transported in cramped, hot, unsanitary conditions for days or weeks. Mortality during transport from dehydration, stress, disease, and injury is catastrophic. Cubs that survive to buyers face an existence profoundly unsuited to their needs — cheetahs are wide-ranging predators that require vast territories, natural prey, and conspecific social interaction (particularly for male coalition groups). Cheetahs in Gulf state private ownership typically die young from inappropriate diet, stress, and inadequate veterinary care. Addressing this requires demand reduction campaigns in consumer countries, prosecution of traffickers, and community protection of breeding areas.