Stop Murdering Cheetahs!

Cheetahs have been extirpated from 91% of their range, and they could soon go extinct, unless you do something to help them.

Add your name if you want to protect all cheetahs from trophy hunters, NOW!

A big part of the problem is professional hunters, who claim their "sport" is an important part of species conservation. Danene van der Westhuyzen is one such example. She is the President of the Namibia Professional Hunters' Association.

Van der Westhuyzen is one of most prolific professional hunters, according to the Namibia Economist.

"I am first and foremost an animal lover. I am a conservationist," she said.

Do you believe that?

Here's the probem: the idea that trophy hunting helps conservation is not a certain bet.

"It remains unclear in exactly what circumstances trophy hunting produces a valuable conservation benefit. We cannot assume a scheme that works in one country, targeting one species, under a specific set of circumstances, is applicable to all other species and locations.

"Also, the purported benefits of trophy hunting rely on sustainable management, investment of profits, and local community involvement. But given the levels of perceived corruption and lack of effective governance in some of the countries where trophy hunting is carried out, one wonders how likely it is these conditions can be met.

"And if trophy hunting is really so lucrative, there is every chance the profits will instead be used to line the pockets of rich (possibly foreign) operators and officials," said The Conversation.

But it's still not that simple.

What about the ethics of murdering animals for fun?

"Just because an intervention has the potential to produce a social benefit, does not mean the approach is ethical. And if it is not ethical, should it be considered a crime?

"I would argue that even if convincing evidence does exist that trophy hunting can produce conservation benefits, it is unethical to cause the death and suffering of individual animals to save a species," The Conversation continued.

You know it's wrong to kill an animal.

Period.

That outrage is compounded when the animal in question is threatened with extinction.

Consider the case of cheetahs.

"Cheetahs have vanished from approximately 90 percent of their historic range in Africa, and are extinct in Asia except for a single, isolated population of perhaps 50 individuals in central Iran," reported WildLifeDay.org.

And the bad news doesn't stop there. According to the same source:

"79% of all cheetah populations contain 100 or fewer individuals."

This means that every single time a cheetah is killed, there is a chance that another small, local population will disappear forever.

The same organization estimates the current worldwide wild cheetah population at approximately 7100 individuals.

Only 7100 cheetahs remain. Let that sink in.

I know you can see how cheetahs could soon be gone forever, if this horrifying trend continues.

How do we save them?

"The low density of cheetahs throughout their range means they require conservation action on a scale that is seldom seen in terrestrial conservation.

"This includes transboundary cooperation, land use planning across large landscapes to maintain habitat connectivity, and human wildlife conflict mitigation," according to the source referenced above.

It's going to take BIG, international efforts for this to work.

That's why we're calling on the Pan African Parliament, as well as the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, to work together and do whatever it takes to ban trophy hunting of cheetahs across their entire range.

Don't you want to stop this cruel, heartless practice of murdering rare cheetahs for fun?

Then add your name to join in the two-pronged effort to save cheetahs, before it's too late.

First, we're going to ask Malik Hussein, Chairperson of the Committee on Rural Economy Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment for the Pan African Parliament, to introduce a motion to protect cheetahs from trophy hunting all across the African continent!

Second, we're going to ask the Asian Parliamentary Assembly to do the same, working in coordination with African nations, to ensure that the global populations is well protected.