STAY VIGIL-ANT

Man Jailed After Trying to Smuggle Thousands of Ants in His Luggage

The defendant has been given a hefty prison sentence as a deterrent to others.

A Chinese man has been jailed for trying to smuggle thousands of live ants out of Kenya in his luggage. Zhang Kequn was arrested in March at Nairobi’s main international airport while trying to leave with more than 2,200 live garden ants in plastic containers. The defendant was trying to capitalize on a large market in countries such as China, where ants are kept as pets and people are willing to pay for sprawling colonies to study their behavior, reported Reuters. Zhang initially denied trying to smuggle the ants, but later pleaded guilty to charges including dealing in live ‌wildlife ⁠species. He was given a 12-month jail term and a fine of 1 million shillings ($7,746). The Kenyan court gave the Chinese national such a heavy punishment in order to try to deter further ant-trafficking in the country. “Noting the increasing and rising cases of dealing in large quantities of garden ants and the negative ecological side effects of massive harvesting, there is a need for ​a stiff deterrent,” ​magistrate Irene Gichobi ⁠said. Zhang’s lawyer said he would ​appeal against his sentence. A Kenyan man accused of supplying the ants to Zhang previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.