Two cases in Kenya reveal the growing threat that illegal wildlife trade represents for ecosystems, national economies and human health. Four men were condemned to Kenya for animal trafficking: admitting possession of animals, but denying the intention to smug them. Two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan were fined for the equivalent of 6,150 euros (R $ 38,750). Surprisingly, it is the species seized in its luggage at the Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairóbi: more than 5,000 ants.
Although they have been judged together, these are two distinct cases. The 18 -year -old Belgians transported 2,244 tubes with insects in their luggage; While the other two defendants had packed the smirring smuggling smuggling with cotton. The police calculated the value of the goods in over 6,800 euros.
This estimate is rather cautious, since among the ants there were specimens of the Mesor Cephalotes of the species of species (or giant form of the African harvest), of which a single queen is worth at least 87 euros. It is not uncommon to pay much more, so the value of the butter may have reached hundreds of thousands of euros.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the Belgians claims to be “Ant Ant”, maintains entire colonies at home and is a member of the Facebook group “Ants and Creation of Ant”. He said he did not know that transcontinental transport was illegal.
Biopiuar, a growing global crime
According to the Authority for the fauna of wildlife in Kenya (KWS), the traffic transgresses the 201 Nagoya protocol. Even the crime that can be in the country, the unparalleled wildlife is part of a growing global, biopioneary problem.
The term designates the commercial use or export of biological material such as plants, animals and microorganisms, without compensation or sharing of profits for the country of origin. Therefore, the practice would deprive the communities and local institutions of potential ecological and economic advantages.
The crime linked to wild species tells how the fourth largest variety of organized crime. According to the World Wildlife Crime Report Report 2024 of the United Nations Office for drugs and crime (UNODC), the most common articles are Ivory, Rhineteen horns and Pangolim stairs, or especially in Europe, parrots and reptiles as “pets”.
In the evaluation of KWS, however, the current case indicates that illegal trade could go from easily recognizable mammals to smaller species. So far, insects represent a small portion of biopiracy, but the Mesor Cefalotes, in particular, have some characteristics that make it particularly coveted by collectors.
In addition to being the largest of the ants of the African harvest, measuring up to 20 millimeters (the queens reach 25 millimeters), its behavior is unique and shows complex skills in the formation of the colonies.
In the justification of the sentence, judge Njeri Thuku stressed that even species of small animals should be protected: “our wild animals, from ants to elephants, maintain our ecosystems and our national legacy”. In a declaration, KWS gives reason: “The smugglers usually underestimate the ecological value of the smallest species, whose role in the ecosystem is irreplaceable”.
Ants improve the quality of the soil, control the populations of harmful insects, propag seeds and live in a precious ecological symbiosis. And your movement to other biosphere can have fatal consequences.
The red ant is a classic case: coming from South America, today it is proliferated in Europe, where it threatens other species and generates considerable damage to agriculture and nature. However, there are many other examples, such as Japanese Scarabeo, Oyster Obri and the Almicado rat.
Zoonosis: when the disease jumps between the species
Illegal wildlife trade not only increases the pressure on threatened species and ecosystems, but also causes serious risks to human health. Its transport and its creation – often in anti -idories conditions – can contribute to the propagation of the zoonosis.
Among these diseases that have moved from other animals to humans are Salmonella, serious acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Mpox (previously called “Monkeys”), avian influence and possibly Covid-19. It is estimated that about three quarters of all new infectious diseases are zoonosis and there are estimates that only mammals and birds will host between 540,000 and 850,000 unknown viruses, with the potential to infect human beings.
The German protection NG Nature of natural protection (Nabu), with global acting, classifies the trade of wild animals such as “pandemic revenues”. Almost half in the new zonotic diseases recorded since 1940 originated in changes in the use of soil, agriculture or hunting. And among these there is the bioperence of wild animals or their products, even the smallest ones, such as African ants.
Source: Terra
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