Cracking Down on Cheetah Traffickers

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2021

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cheetahs are in trouble. With just 7,000 left in the wild in Africa, populations have been in a continuous decline due to trophy hunting, habitat loss, retaliatory killings, and dealers looking to sell them to the wealthy. National Geographic editor Rachael Bale shares what she saw at the trial of a notorious cheetah smuggler and explores how Somaliland is battling the illegal cheetah trade. For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard Want more? To see Nichole’s pictures and read Rachael’s reporting, check out their article “Cheetahs for Sale.” Can’t learn enough about cheetahs? Our Cheetah 101 video lays out the basics of cheetah biology and conservation In Somaliland, droughts are a major driver of human conflict with wildlife. You can read more about the effects of these droughts here. Also explore: If you enjoyed this episode of Overheard, you might also like Guardians of the River, winner of first-ever Tribeca Film Festival Podcast Award The eight-episode series—produced by National Geographic Explorer Catherine de Medici Jaffee—follows scientists and members of the local community as they strive to protect the Okavango river system in southern Africa. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Cheetah cubs don't meow or hiss, they chirp like birds.
0:15.1	So as they're coming in, you hear these Cheetah cubs chirps echoing through the courtroom.
0:21.6	In the late afternoon of a hot day in Hargasa, the capital of Somali land, National Geographic
0:27.2	Animals Editor Rachel Bale sat in on an unusual trial.
0:31.4	Was the proceeding in Somali in a Somali language?
0:35.1	Yes, the proceeding was entirely in Somali, so I had my translator sitting next to me whispering
0:41.5	in my ear all of the translations the entire time.
0:45.3	So this was the trial of Abdi Haewon, aka animal-obdi, a notorious Cheetah smuggler, and
0:52.6	the man himself was held in a small metal cell near the Somali land judge.
0:57.4	Yes, it's a prison cell with metal bars, so that's where the defendant sit.
1:02.7	They're locked back there, there's a bench in there for them to sit, and when they address
1:07.2	the court they stand up, they walk to the bars, and they talk to the lawyer at the judge.
1:13.0	Ten Cheetah cubs taken from the wild had been found in the home of Abdi Haewon's accomplice.
1:19.2	Half of those cubs were brought in as a key piece of evidence in the case.
1:23.4	And after the judge came in and sat down, from the back of the courtroom, a guy walks
1:28.9	in with a big pet carrier and five Cheetah cubs in it.
1:35.8	You can hear them chirping.
1:39.4	These cubs now live in a rescue center, where around 60 more Cheetahs were covered from
1:43.7	other trafficking operations, and that's where they'll spend the rest of their lives.
1:48.4	And then the cubs were brought over to the cell and held up to the bars of the cell for
1:54.3	Abdi Haewon and his co-defendant to take a look at.
1:57.7	They were asked to identify them if they recognized the cats or not.
	...

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