Deep Dive
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Hello, I'm Hannah Gelbart and you're listening to What's in the World from the BBC World Service. Today we're talking about wildlife smuggling. Two teenagers from Belgium have pled guilty after being arrested in Kenya, but they weren't caught with exotic birds or ivory. They were caught with 5,000 ants.
Each ant could, in theory, sell for around 220 US dollars. And while they're prized by collectors, they're also important for Kenya's grasslands, biodiversity and conservation. So today, you're going to hear what the real cost of the exotic pet trade is and why people love keeping ants as pets.
I'm speaking to Akisa Wandera, a BBC journalist in Nairobi who has been covering this. Hi Akisa. Hi, hi Hannah. Tell me a bit about this case. What were these two teenagers arrested for? Well, it's actually one of the most interesting cases that I've covered in quite a long time and
Even seasoned court journalists have said they haven't covered anything like this before. So the case involves two Belgian teenagers who were arrested at Nairobi's main airport, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, earlier this month while attempting to smuggle thousands of live garden ants, which are being referred to as giant African harvester ants. So this group also includes a Kenyan and a Vietnamese group.
And authorities said that ants were carefully packed in over 2,000 modified test tubes filled with cotton wool. So you'd wonder why they did this. Investigators say this was carefully done first to avoid detection at the airport and second so that these ants can survive for up to two months, perhaps as they're being transported there.
And it's one of the first cases of its kind here in Kenya. It's been placed under the anti-biopiracy laws. It's being referred to as a landmark case under the Nagoya Protocol, which is an international protocol that governs the use of genetic resources. So the four pleaded guilty in court and said that they were just doing this as a hobby. They did not know first that it was illegal or that it was harmful. And we are expecting the sentencing on May 7th, which is next week.
And of course, authorities, including the National Museum, the Kenya World Life Service, they're hoping to get their first major prosecution of its kind under the particular laws that they have cited.
Why was it that they were trying to smuggle giant African harvester ants? What are these ants like and why are they so valuable? From conversations we've had with the investigators, they say that sometimes this is done to be sold as exotic pets, especially in markets in Europe and Asia.
And that's the major suspicion that investigators say could be what was happening. Of course, they have denied these allegations. Like I said, they've said this is a hobby.
But we understand that there is an increasing demand of people who are especially, if I could call it ant watchers, who are willing to buy this for as much as one ant goes for about $220 from what some markets have valued them for. So they're willing to spend this much, just watch the behavior of the ants, watch them build their complex colonies. And it's
seemingly something that's currently on the rise. And these ants are one of the biggest species, right? Yes, yes, they are. And they're big and beautiful. It's said that even their colour itself is very attractive for buyers who want to keep them. It's not just for the activity that they're hoping to see the ants get into, but also that they look dreamy and they're beautiful even to just look at and watch.
And this particular species is mostly found in East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia, perhaps why we're seeing this case now. And it's said that it is very hard for retailers to source, hence why it is not often sold. It is also said that they nest openly in open plains and they usually have massive moulds of soil and seed, you know, just indicating that their nest locations would also be long. And these are the things that people hope they would build
in full view in their houses, perhaps what you would put in as an aquarium. Instead, you'd put in ants and just watch them build these things. And why are they so important to Kenya's ecosystem? Well, it's not just Kenya's ecosystem. Generally, ants are very good for
you know, the natural soil, they act as natural soil engineers where they help with seed dispersal, aerating the soil, from what experts say, breaking down organic material. So they play a very crucial ecological role. And it's said that their underground networks
which they use can enhance water infiltration and nutrient cycling in the natural soil from what experts say. So when you remove them from their native environments and in large numbers, like what we are seeing with this particular case,
It's not just about the ants disappearing, but they're saying that it will cause a wider disruption to the local ecosystem as well. When you hear about the exotic pet trade, you might think of people smuggling slightly bigger animals, monkeys, pangolins. Is smuggling smaller animals like ants on the rise?
Well, hence why this case is bizarre, because we haven't had anything like this before. And that's why it's been called the first case of its kind under the anti-biopiracy laws, because often the Kenya Wildlife Service is used to protecting bigger animals, but now they're talking about ants. So it's an interesting case where larger animals have long been the focus of trafficking laws, but now we are seeing a growing demand for smaller and less conspicuous species like ants.
But of course, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the authority that's involved in this, say that it also speaks to shifting trends to smuggling, especially for animals, where it's now not just the bigger animals that was always under their radar. They're now seeing micro creatures that are very easy to smuggle and they don't even need much space. They can pass through security and detected if parked cleverly, like perhaps what animals
The gentlemen were trying and they're now saying that this is something they will be really looking into and they hope that this case will help serve as a warning for anyone else who would want to use this avenue to smuggle ants
out of the country. What are some of the concerns of the Kenya Wildlife Service when it comes to ants in particular? Well, it's three-pronged. The Kenya Wildlife Service says it's an ethical problem, an environmental problem, and certainly a legal issue because these species are being collected without any benefit for their country of origin, as we've talked about the benefits these ants have in their local ecosystems.
So they're concerned that it threatens biodiversity and undermines the very conservation efforts that have been there for a while. Often people, when they talk about conservation, only think about bigger, larger animals and the most well-known. But now they're saying that even these microcreatures are just as important and an important part of conservation as the big animals as well. Are there risks for the host countries, the countries that are receiving these animals?
Yes, and experts have said that there's also risk of spreading diseases through these ants because if they're taken from one location to another, you don't know the kind of diseases, bacteria they would carry to another country that perhaps...
has never seen anything like this before and they would have a hard time handling it. So that's one of the concerns even from experts who have been following this case who say it's not just a risk to the biodiversity, they risk spreading diseases to other countries. Akisa, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
There are more than 12,000 species of ants documented worldwide and 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. That's 2.5 million ants for every single human. Now, keeping ants as pets is legal in most places, but several countries have laws against importing them. So if you do want to keep them, it's important to get them from a reputable source. This hobby is a growing trend, so we wanted to hear from some ant watchers about why they love their pets.
Hello, my name is Kaden, I'm from the USA, and I document my pet ants on my YouTube channel called Ender Ants. So I started keeping ants in 2017, and it was mostly because I wasn't allowed to keep dogs or cats growing up, and that's when I found ant keeping on YouTube while I was looking for low-maintenance kinds of pets. But what I really love about ants is that there are so many different kinds, and they have their own unique traits and characteristics.
Hi, my name is Mauro. I'm the person behind Bruma Ants, a YouTube channel and a website specialized in ant keeping related content. I've always been a bit fascinated by the world of ants. They are such tiny animals and if you look at their behavior when they are alone, they seem to be
a little bit lost and sometimes a little clumsy as well but when they are in their colony with all the other ants they build and do pretty amazing things i like to think of an ant colony as a sort of giant single organism with each individual ant acting like a cell or a small part of a larger body
One of the best aspects of keeping ant suspects is that they are extremely easy to care for. You just need a basic enclosure, which can be a simple fish tank or a specialized ant nest, a queen ant, some food, a bit of water, and that's it. You can have a full ant colony experience right in your room.
Starting an end colony from scratch has become easier and easier, especially in the last couple of years. Now there are actual companies specialized in building and selling everything you need to start, grow and enjoy your end colony. I think this is a very underrated hobby. Watching your little colony grow from just a couple of workers to more than a thousand definitely gives you an awesome feeling of satisfaction.
The ants grow with you and considering that some queen ants can live up to more than a decade, they can be a big part of your life. And if you've caught the bug yourself and want to get into responsible ant keeping, here are some tips from Caden.
Alright so for my top 5 tips for anyone that wants to start keeping an ant colony, in no particular order these tips are what I wish I knew when I first started. Leave your ants in the dark or have their nest covered with a card. Ant nests are almost always underground, so the queen is in the safety of her chamber. So when you check on the colony often, the small movements and light can stress out the queen and she can eat her eggs or even die.
What I do is keep my ants on a shelf with black foam board walled up in front of my colonies. That way, I can still peek at them from the side or remove the foam board briefly to feed them. Number two is to get a heating cable because ants love warmer temperatures. The eggs grow quicker and the queen might lay more eggs because her metabolism gets raised from the heat. Number three is to get a black light and set it up in your backyard at night during the summer. In the US, there are only a few ant shops that can ship queen ants legally to other states.
You'll have to get used to looking for queen ants if you live in someplace where they can't ship to you. Number four would be to get feeder insects like wingless fruit flies. Roaches and crickets would be better, but if you're like me, my parents didn't want me to keep a container of them in my house. So you need fish food and hard-boiled eggs as a protein source. For number five, I would say is to be patient. It depends on the species, but generally, an ant colony takes more than a year to have hundreds of workers.
But most importantly, check your local laws and regulations about what you can and can't do when it comes to native and non-native wildlife. Some species may require a licence. And if you like this episode and you're interested in nature and the environment, do have a listen to some of the other things we've covered, like why scientists want to bring back extinct animals,
And are artificial reefs good for our oceans? You can find those wherever you get your BBC podcasts. That's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Hannah Gelbart. This is What In The World from the BBC World Service. And we'll see you next time. Bye.