TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan donated seed funding for a new Cheetah education center in Somaliland, the Taiwan Representative Office said on Sunday (June 23).

Taiwan’s representative to Somaliland, Allen Lou (羅震華), commented he was “delighted” to attend the opening ceremony of the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s (CCF) education center in Geed Deeble. Lou pledged NT$810,000 (US$25,000) to the center, saying, “Taiwan is committed to protect the wildlife, combat climate change and biodiversity loss with Somaliland and CCF,” Lou said. 

The CCF established safe havens near Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, according to its website. Its efforts aim to “address the increasing number of confiscated cheetah cubs from the illegal wildlife trade.” 

Last year, it opened the Cheetah Rescue and Conservation Centre in Geed-Deeble, which is now the primary intake point for cheetah cubs. It has adequate housing and a quarantine area for the big cats.