Nairobi, Kenya – The Kenyan authorities said that two Belgium teenagers were charged with wildlife piracy on Tuesday after meeting thousands of ants packed in test tubes in test tubes were part of a tendency to smuggle.
Lorne David and Seppe Loadwiskex, two 19 -year -olds who were arrested with 5000 ants at a guest house on April 5, were unhappy when they appeared in front of a magistrate in Nairobi and relatives were comforted in the court. They told the magistrate that they were collecting ants for fun and didn’t know that it was illegal.
In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis Engang and Vietnamese Duh Hang Nuguin were also accused of illegal trafficking in the same court room, holding 5 ants after their arrest.
The Kenya Wildlife Service says that these four people were involved in ants trafficking in the Europe and Asian markets, and the species included a distinct, large and red crop of East Africa Meser Cephalotes.
The KWS said in a statement that the illegal export of ants “does not damage Kenya’s sovereign rights more than its biodiversity but deprives local communities and research institutes of potential environmental and economic benefits.”
Kenya fought against the smuggling of bodies among others in the past, such as elephants, rhinoceros and Pangolin. However, cases against these four presents “the change in the trafficking tendency-the iconic large mammals are less known than the eco-terms of the critical species,” the KWS says.
The two Belgians were arrested in Nakuru Count Kenya, which is home to various national parks. 5,000 ants were found in a guest house where they were staying, and 2,244 test tubes were packed with cotton wool so that the ants enable the survivors to survive for months.
The other two were arrested in Nairobi where 400 ants were found in their apartment.
The Kenyan authorities thought the ants were valuable in 1 million shillings ($ 7,700). The prices for ants can vary widely according to species and markets.
Nairobi Africa Wildlife Foundation Vice President Philip Murothy says ants play a role in the soil enriching, enable germination and supply of food for birds like birds.
“The point is, when you see a healthy forest like the Anygong Forest, you don’t think about what it is making it healthy
Murothi warned about the risk of trafficking species in the agricultural industry of destination countries and exporting diseases.
“Even if there is a trade, it should be controlled and no one should accept our resources exactly,” he said.
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