INTERNATIONAL: Just around five months old, the baby cheetahs are dehydrated in Somaliland as government vet tries to inject them with nutrients, stunted and so lacking in the calcium they would normally get from their mother's milk that they have problems walking. But at least they are alive.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) and the government of Somaliland - which broke away from Somalia in 1991 - have been rescuing trafficked cheetah cubs in the region for the past four years. Only around 6,700 adult cheetahs are left in the wild, and the population continues to decline, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Kidnapped cubs are often destined for the exotic pet trade in the Middle East but few people realise the suffering that entails. Four or five cheetah cubs die for each one that reaches the market, Dr. Laurie Marker, the head of CCF, has said. Mothers are often killed.

Droughts exacerbated by global warming are increasing pressure on the cheetahs, as less grazing supports fewer herds of wild prey and farm animals. Farmers who once shrugged it off when a cheetah attacked one of their animals are now less able to shoulder losses, she said.

Somaliland is planning to open a national park where the cheetahs will be able to roam, Environmental Minister Shukri Ismail Haji, has disclosed.But the environmental minister Shukri Ismail says that they are an unrecognized government. The international funding levels we can get is very little as a result. And they only get few development aids brought by agencies and U.N.

They have allocated land for national parks. For the cheetah they have set aside land at Geedeble, 40 kilometres from Hargeisa and Debbis where other animals will be taken to. As a government, they have taken the responsibility to ensure that the wild animals get the free-living space.

But although the tiny breakaway region lies in the band most affected by climate change, it cannot access most environmental funding because hardly any world bodies recognise it as a separate country from Somalia, the minister has said.

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF BABY CHEETAHS BEING RESCUED FROM A POACHER AND TREATED IN THE FIELD / CUBS BEING PLACED IN CAGES / VETS AT THE CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND (CCF) TREATING THE CUBS / FEEDING OF THE CUBS AND OTHER CHEETAHS / DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE CUBS BEING TRANSPORTED TO SAFETY / INTERVIEW WITH SOMALILAND MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT SHUKRI ISMAIL HAJI / INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD OF THE CCF, DR LAURIE MARKER}