I would like to bring to your attention a practice carried out by very high ranking Qatari nationals, which is grossly in breach of the CITES Convention.
The said nationals import illegally African wild cats (lions, cheetahs ...) from Africa to Qatar for their private zoos using an especially cruel way. They dye the cubs in black colour to disguise them as ordinary kittens and as such export them out of Africa. Upon the arrival of the animals in Qatar a bleach is used to get rid of the colour and restore the "normal" state of the animals.
This information was passed on in confidence by a member of Qatar's royal family to an expatriate, a British army major currently employed as military consultant at the Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College in Qatar.
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Hi Ron,
Thanks for bringing this issue to attention. Probably the best place to start is to contact our partner TRAFFIC, an organisation which focuses specifically on illegal wildlife trade. Their website: http://www.traffic.org/
Our WWF office in the region is WWF-UAE, and you are welcome to contact them directly:
http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_o...
Thanks again and all the best,
Mim Osterberg
WWF International Online Team -