The Ministry of Environment and Rural Development has rescued eight cheetah cubs from people trying to smuggle them out of Somaliland.
The ministry managed this feat with the help of several other organizations.
Among these were Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), Torrid Analytics, and Selel Regional Administration. Somaliland Police Forces also took part in the rescue efforts.
The environment ministry said it worked through tough COVID-19 conditions to conduct three separate missions in Awdal and Selel regions to rescue the cubs.
The operations, which took place from 18-29 July, led to the rescue of seven cubs predicted to be between two-and-a-half and 10 weeks old.
Officials said the eighth cub is around six months old.
Authorities believe that the cubs were separated from their mothers along the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia in July.
Shukri H. Ismail, the Minister of Environment and Rural Development, hailed all the personnel and organizations that participated in the rescue efforts.
He also mentioned that all the smugglers were in the process of transiting through Somaliland when alert officials captured them and rescued the cubs.