A court in Kenya has sentenced four men to one year in prison or a fine of $7,700 each for attempting to smuggle thousands of live queen ants out of the country. The suspects, two Belgians, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, a Vietnamese national, Duh Hung Nguyen, 23, and a Kenyan, Dennis Ng’ang’a, 26, were arrested with over 5,000 ants packed in test tubes filled with cotton wool.
The ants, including the rare giant African harvester ants valued at up to $220 each, were suspected to be destined for collectors in Europe and Asia. Magistrate Njeri Thuku emphasized that possessing thousands of ants goes beyond a hobby, highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity.
“Already the world has lost a number of species due in part to greed. It is time to stem this tide,” she said.
The court described Nguyen as a “mule or courier” and Ng’ang’a as a “broker” due to his knowledge of the ants in his rural home. David, an ant enthusiast with 10 colonies at home, claimed he didn’t know smuggling ants was illegal, while Lodewijckx stated he only intended to buy ants for his entomology interest. The Kenya Wildlife Service hailed the ruling as a testament to Kenya’s zero-tolerance stance on wildlife trafficking.
Source: BBC
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