quote:

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A unit of counter-terrorist US troops is preparing for a unique mission to rescue two “hostages” in Ethiopia.

The targets are two cheetah cubs, who have been tied up at a restaurant in the village of Gode and forced to perform for customers by fighting each other.

The soldiers came across the three-month-old siblings last week. Several hundred US troops are based in nearby Djibouti. They provided medical attention for the female cub, who is believed to have been blinded by a kick from the poachers who sold them to the restaurant’s owner, Muhammad Hudle.

American soldiers contacted the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Agency in Addis Ababa, but Mr Hudle refused to hand them over unless he was paid £580 for each one, which is ten times the average annual income.

The cheetah is endangered because of loss of habitat, poaching and other factors, according to the international Cheetah Conservation Fund. Keeping wild animals is illegal without a special license, but Ethiopia's wildlife laws are rarely enforced.

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I know the soldiers are peacekeepers and have to watch their steps, but it would awfully hard to see these abused cubs and still resist forcing the bar owner to turn them over.

Hopefully, the little guys will be safe soon.

PS: Is that a lame, cutesy lede from the Times, or what?

[ 26 November 2005: Message edited by: Tape_342 ]

[ 26 November 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]

quote:

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(Gode) Two endangered cheetah cubs held captive and abused at a remote village restaurant are to be rescued by an Ethiopian veterinarian and U.S. soldiers, an environmental official said.

Befekadu Refera, an official of the national Environmental Protection Agency, said the veterinarian would take the cheetahs away from Gode on Saturday and hand them to U.S. troops for safekeeping until the animals are flown to the capital, Addis Ababa.

"The U.S. Army will not take the cheetahs without Ethiopian officials being present," Befekadu told The Associated Press. "The vet will give some medical treatment to the animals and then on Monday or Tuesday they will flown to Addis Ababa courtesy of the U.S Army."

[...]

The soldiers also contacted U.S.-based cheetah experts as well as Ethiopian authorities, who have intervened. The U.S. military refused to comment officially on the cheetah rescue effort, but its role was confirmed by the restaurant owner, the Ethiopian EPA and the U.S.-founded international Cheetah Conservation Fund, based in Namibia.

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