The Horn of Africa Cheetah Landscape is a large area of great concern for cheetah conservation that covers Somalia and the eastern and southern parts of Ethiopia, the south-eastern corner of South Sudan and a northern strip of Kenya. It is of special interest due to the illegal trade in cheetahs which is understood to be sourcing live cubs from this part of the continent for sale as pets to the Middle East.
The strip along the south-western part of Ethiopia is mapped by the CCI as Resident Range for cheetah, but much of the remainder is either Possible or Unknown range for the species. CCI has been working since 2012 with multiple countries and NGOs within the CITES forum in order to tackle the trade, but the efforts are hampered by a lack of scientific data regarding the presence and numbers of cheetah remaining in the landscape, and the location and extent of sourcing of wild cheetah for the illegal trade.
As a first step, the CCI is developing and implementing projects in the landscape to establish the current extent of cheetah range and the conservation status of the subspecies, and to understand the extent and prevalence of the illegal trade and other threats, such as conflict with livestock keepers. Subsequent projects will implement targeted conservation measures in areas identified to hold important cheetah populations, including raising of awareness of the subspecies’ conservation plight, and practical measures to promote coexistence with local communities.
The CCI supports one project in the landscape:
Seeking to identify the extent of current cheetah range, and threats to cheetah survival, including illegal wildlife trade and conflict with livestock keepers.
