The Cheetah Conservation Fund<\/a> carried out the extraction after receiving urgent intelligence that traffickers in the Somaliland capital were about to load the two cubs onto a boat and illegally move them into the exotic pet trade. Just hours later, the organization put a rescue team in action and worked with local authorities to take possession of the cheetahs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The next day, the cubs ended up at Somaliland\u2019s Cheetah Rescue and Conservation Centre, where veterinary and wildlife<\/a> experts will care for them. The conservation centre opened in Somaliland in 2016 by Laurie Marker for cheetahs pulled out of the illegal wildlife trade. At the moment, 125 rescued cheetahs live at the facility.<\/p>\n \u201cThis outcome is a testament to the speed and dedication of our team and our partners on the ground,\u201d Laurie Marker said in a statement emailed to Popular Science. She founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund and established the Cheetah Research & Education Center in Namibia. \u201cWith fewer than 7,000 cheetahs remaining in the wild, every life we save matters, not just for the species, but for the ecosystems they support.\u201d<\/p>\n The cheetah<\/a> cubs are just two of at least 21 other recently rescued cubs, a figure that highlights the persistent extent of the region\u2019s black market wildlife trade. The Horn of Africa, which includes Somalia\/Somaliland, is unfortunately a center for the illegal trade of cheetah cubs<\/a>. Somaliland is a self-proclaimed republic<\/a> in Somalia\u2019s northwest without international recognition<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trafficking attempts frequently leave recovered cheetahs seriously dehydrated and malnourished. In fact, researchers estimate that a shocking proportion\u201490 percent\u2014die before their intended buyers receive them. Thankfully, the duo in question are rapidly recovering.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t 2025 PopSci Best of What\u2019s New<\/p>\n The 50 most important innovations of the year<\/p>\n \t\u00a0<\/p>\n Margherita is a trilingual freelance science writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the Popular Science daily newsletter\ud83d\udca1 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,43,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-375956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"baby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cheetah-rescue-somaliland.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"baby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cheetah-cubs-rescue-somaliland.jpg\")
\nImages: Courtesy of Cheetah Conservation Fund<\/p>\n![\"products](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776001090_746_best-of-whats-new-2025-HERO.png\")
\t\t\t<\/p>\n