Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given $7,700 fine or 1-year prison sentence

NAIROBI, Kenya — Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the minimum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws.

Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.

Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. They were charged on April 15.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya's main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were naïve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.

The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the teenagers were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.

''This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,'' Thuku said in her ruling.

The teenagers' lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua, described the sentencing as ''fair'' and said her clients would not appeal.

''When the statutes prescribe a specific minimum amount, the court cannot go lower than that. So, even if we went to the court of appeal, the court is not going to revise that," she said.

The illegal export of the ants ''not only undermines Kenya's sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,'' KWS said in a statement.

In a separate but related case, two other men charged after they were found with 400 ants were also fined $7,700 each with an option of serving 12 months in prison.

Duh Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, told the court that he was sent to pick up the ants and arrived at Kenya's main airport where he met his contact person, Dennis Ng'ang'a, and together they travelled to meet the locals who sell the ants.

Ng'ang'a, who is from Kenya, had said he didn't know it was illegal because ants are sold and eaten locally.

Magistrate Thuku during the ruling described Ng'ang'a and Nguyen's meet-up as ''part of an elaborate scheme.''

Experts in Kenya have in recent days warned of an emerging trend to traffic lesser-known wildlife species.

Entomologist Shadrack Muya, a senior lecturer at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, told The Associated Press that garden ants are important for aerating soils, enhancing soil fertility and dispersing seeds.

''Ants play a very important role in the environment and their disturbance, which is also their removal, will lead to disruption of the ecosystem,'' he said.

Muya warned against taking ants from their natural habitats, saying they were unlikely to survive if not supported to adapt to their new environment.

''Survival in the new environment will depend on the interventions that are likely to take place. Where it has been taken away from, there is a likelihood of an ecological disaster that may happen due to that disturbance,'' he said.