Cheetahs continue to be illegally traded through social media platforms, according to a new analysis published by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), a non-profit research and lobby organization based in Namibia.

A decision by South Africa’s government to include more than 30 wild species—including rhinos, lions, and cheetahs—on a list of animals that can be improved by breeding and genetic research could cause considerable damage to their genetic diversity, scientists warn today in the South African Journal of Science.

Researchers find at least 4,184 of the endangered big cats have been since 2009Researchers trawled through 60,000 online adverts over the past decade to understand the extent of the trade.

By bringing cheetahs back to the degraded savannas of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the North West province, South Africa halted desertification, increased vegetation cover, restored water and soil, and reduced overgrazing without artificial intervention.

South Africa’s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas.