New wildlife trafficking trend emerges in live ant trade across three nations
Kenyan court on Tuesday (March 17) charged two men over the illegal transport of wildlife after authorities arrested one of them, Chinese national Zhang Kequn, at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport last week with more than 2,000 live ants.
Zhang, 27, was taken into custody last Tuesday as he tried to leave Kenya, according to court documents.
The records said Kenyan immigration officials had marked his passport with a “stop order” after he allegedly escaped arrest in the country last year.
Prosecutors also brought Charles Mwangi before the court on Monday, accusing him of supplying live ants to foreign traffickers.
Investigators said Mwangi was connected to a consignment of ants seized in Bangkok on March 10, which had been shipped from Mombasa, the Kenyan port city.
Both Zhang and Mwangi denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi, including dealing in wildlife species without a permit.
The court ordered that the two men remain in custody until further directions are issued on March 27.
The case highlights a niche but lucrative trade driven by ant collectors, who are willing to pay high prices to keep colonies in large transparent containers known as formicariums, which allow close observation of the insects’ intricate social organisation and behaviour.
Last year, four men were each fined US$7,700 for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants prized for their role in Kenya’s ecosystem.
Experts said the case pointed to a shift in biopiracy away from trophy items such as elephant ivory towards lesser-known species.
Reuters
