Latest news with #conservationLaws
Arab News
08-05-2025
- Arab News
US denounces Russian obstruction in UN sanctions on North Korea
Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence NAIROBI: 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 maximum 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 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. 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 traveled 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.
BreakingNews.ie
07-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants sentenced in Kenya
Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of 7,700 US dollars (£5,767) or serving 12 months in prison 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. Advertisement 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. Lornoy David, centre, and Seppe Lodewijckx, right, were arrested on April 5 (Brian Inganga/AP) 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 naive and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected was valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) 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-coloured harvester ant native to East Africa. 'This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,' Ms Thuku said in her ruling. Advertisement The teenagers' lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua, described the sentence — the minimum penalty for the offence — 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 dollars each with an option of serving 12 months in prison. Advertisement 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. Ants were important for aerating soils, enhancing soil fertility and dispersing seeds, experts said (Brian Inganga/AP) Ng'ang'a, who is from Kenya, had said he did not know it was illegal because ants were sold and eaten locally. Magistrate Ms 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. Advertisement Entomologist Shadrack Muya, a senior lecturer at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, told The Associated Press that garden ants were 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. Mr 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. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Belgian teenagers with 5,000 ants in Kenya get US$7,700 fine or 1-year jail
Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of US$7,700 or serving 12 months in prison – the maximum penalty for the offence – for violating wildlife conservation laws. Advertisement 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 naive 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. Belgian nationals Lornoy David (middle) and Seppe Lodewijckx (right) leave the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday. Photo: AP 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-coloured harvester ant native to East Africa. Advertisement 'This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,' Thuku said in her ruling.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- The Independent
Two teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya could serve 12 months in prison
Two Belgian teenagers who were found with 5,000 ants in Kenya have been fined $7,700 or the option to serve 12 months in prison for violating wildlife conservation laws. Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, were arrested on April 5 and charged 10 days later after Kenyan authorities discovered the ants packed in test tubes at the guest house where they were staying. Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species. Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya 's main airport, delivered her ruling on Wednesday. She said 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 sentence is considered the maximum penalty for the offence. 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. 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. Kenya has in the past fought against the trafficking of body parts of larger species of wild animals such as elephants, rhinos and pangolins among others. But the cases against the four men represent "a shift in trafficking trends — from iconic large mammals to lesser-known yet ecologically critical species,' KWS said. Philip Muruthi, a vice president for conservation at the Africa Wildlife Foundation in Nairobi, previously said the ants play the role of enriching soils, enabling germination and providing food for species such as birds. 'The thing is, when you see a healthy forest, like Ngong forest, you don't think about what is making it healthy. It is the relationships all the way from the bacteria to the ants to the bigger things,' he said. Muruthi warned of the risk of trafficking species and exporting diseases to the agricultural industry of the destination countries. 'Even if there is trade, it should be regulated and nobody should be taking our resources just like that,' he said.
