A Kenyan court has imposed a one-year prison sentence or a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) on four individuals for attempting to smuggle thousands of live ants out of the country.
The defendants, which include two Belgians, a Vietnamese, and a Kenyan, were apprehended last month at a guest house in Naivasha with 5,000 ants in their possession.
They admitted guilt and claimed they were merely collecting the sought-after ants as a hobby, unaware of the legal implications.
However, during sentencing, the court emphasized the significant value of the specific ant species involved, noting the large quantity they had collected.
It is suspected that these ants were destined for exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia, particularly the giant African harvester ants, which can fetch up to £170 ($220) each in the UK.
The Belgian suspects, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, along with Vietnamese national Duh Hung Nguyen and Kenyan Dennis Ng’ang’a, received similar sentences after the magistrate took their mitigating circumstances into account.
The Belgians were found with 5,000 ants, while Nguyen and Ng’ang’a had 300. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), typically focused on larger wildlife like lions and elephants, has labeled this case as a ‘landmark’ event, highlighting a concerning trend in trafficking from well-known mammals to lesser-known species crucial for ecological balance.
The KWS noted last month that the demand for rare insect species is on the rise, and in Kenya, these ants are protected under international biodiversity treaties, making their trade highly regulated.
The Belgian teens had arrived in Kenya on tourist visas and were staying in Naivasha, a town favored by tourists for its wildlife parks and lakes.
