Kenya Jails Chinese Smuggler Over 2,200 Ants, Fines Him 1 Million Shillings
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 13
Kenya Jails Chinese Smuggler Over 2,200 Ants, Fines Him 1 Million Shillings
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 13
Summary
Zhang Kequn was sentenced on April 15 to one year in prison and fined 1 million Kenyan shillings after authorities found more than 2,200 live ants in his luggage at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport.
1,948 of the insects were giant African harvester ants, or Messor cephalotes, a prized East African species prosecutors said Zhang was taking to China after allegedly paying 100 shillings per ant.
Kenya's magistrate called for a deterrent sentence as ant-smuggling cases rise; Zhang's was the third such conviction in less than a year, following cases involving about 5,000 ants and 400 ants.
Collectors in Asia and Europe can pay up to £235 for a single queen—about 40 times the Kenyan price—while conservationists warn over-harvesting and overseas release could damage grasslands, agriculture and biosecurity.