Thread by @bellingcat

In Dubai, social media stars pose with tigers, lions and cheetahs that can be tracked to a shady network involved in wildlife trade, writes @FoekePostma. bellingcat.com/news/mena/2021…

@FoekePostma Despite the UAE's ban on private ownership and trade of exotic and dangerous wildlife, some seem to end up as pets. Celebrities we could link to this network include a rapper, movie star, business magnate, TV-presenter, model, vlogger, footballer and even a fugitive criminal.

@FoekePostma By comparing these animals' unique patterns of stripes and (whisker) spots, we determined where they may have come from.

@FoekePostma Celebrities pose with these animals for likes and sometimes tag the accounts that deliver the animals, providing them with advertisement. One of these accounts has been kept many different, young animals in an apartment high up in Dubai since October 2019.

@FoekePostma Included are cheetah cubs, a species that is facing extinction in part due to poaching for the pet trade. "Used to be mine, sold already" reads this post.

@FoekePostma Even when exotic animals are traded legally, it's likely to be detrimental to the animal's well-being and to conservation efforts. Celebrities showing off with such animals only increases the demand for them, sustaining poaching and criminal networks: nationalgeographic.com/animals/refere…

@FoekePostma If you see celebrities posing with exotic animals outside of zoos, come talk to us in our Discord. With your help, Bellingcat can crowdsource further research into this shadowy trade.
discord.com/channels/70975…