Sylvia ChebetTo many, they are insignificant little creatures, but the giant African harvester ants are far from insignificant.
Thanks to the Kenyan police operation that busted a smuggling syndicate, it is now an open secret that an underground exotic pet industry attaches a substantial monetary value to the ants.
Two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan national were found guilty of smuggling some 5,440 queens of the giant African harvester colonies which Kenyan prosecutors valued at around 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,300).
However, retail prices in the UK suggest the haul could have fetched as much as $1 million, if it had reached European shores, with each of the seized queens valued at about $233.
"It's like cocaine," said Dino Martins, director of the Turkana Basin Institute and one of Kenya's leading insect experts. "The price of cocaine in Colombia versus getting a kilogram in the European market is such a big value addition, that's why people do it."
Exotic pets
Ant aficionados pay large sums to maintain ant colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums, to observe their intricate social structures and behaviours.
“These insects build very interesting colonies,” Edith Kabesiime, the Wildlife Campaign Manager at World Animal Protection tells TRT Afrika.
“Some people find that process very fascinating, exciting and entertaining. They derive joy from it.”
That eccentric joy is now driving an esoteric ring trading the much smaller, more lucrative creatures in the multibillion exotic pet industry.
Demand for threatened wildlife species such as African grey parrots and ball pythons among collectors of exotic pets has fueled a spurt in poaching on the continent despite conservation campaigns, regulation and vigil.
It is not yet clear whether the attempted heist through Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was a one-off by amateur enthusiasts, or a wider network of wildlife traffickers exploring new products and markets.
Environmentalists however reckon the seizure signals a landmark shift in biopiracy trends from iconic large mammals to lesser-known species that are no less ecologically critical.
"We're seeing organised crime syndicates diversify from traditional ivory poaching to target our entire biodiversity - from medicinal plants, insects to micro-organisms," Erustus Kanga, director general of KWS said in a statement.
"We are not criminals, we are 18 years old, we are naive, and I just want to go home to start my life," one of the Belgian defendants, David Lornoy, said at the trial.
But Samuel Mutua, a wildlife crime expert at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the ant case qualifies as organised crime. "Irrespective of their age, they were able to get a lot of ants," he said.
Ecological value
If these ants were to vanish from the face of the earth or their numbers reduce significantly, a lot would change.
“As the name suggests, harvester ants, play a crucial role in seed dispersion and germination,” Kabesiime notes.
“If you have ever seen them, you would have noticed that they carry seeds around, to their nests and other places, which help in the dispersal of seeds.”
According to Martins from the Turkana Basin Institute, the harvester ants, whose industriousness is mentioned by King Solomon in the Bible, keep Kenya's iconic Rift Valley healthy by spreading and mixing grass seeds across the landscape.
"If we were to lose all the elephants in Africa, we would be devastated, but the grassland would continue. If we were to lose all the harvester ants and termites, the savannah would collapse," Martins argues.
They dwell in the soil, constantly digging tunnels and building their nests, a process that aerates the soil and mixes up nutrients therein, which consequently helps plants to grow.
“Without them, there would be reduced biodiversity and plant growth would be impacted because of reduced soil aeration,” Kabesiime adds.
The giant African harvesters are also scavengers, which help in the process of decomposition and the formation of the very soil that plants depend on.
Queen ants
Beyond their critical contribution in soil formation, they help to control other pests.
“Sometimes you find them carrying other insects which helps in pest control especially in agricultural landscapes, but they also serve as food for other species like birds, amphibians, creatures which depend on small insects.”
Environmentalists however find targeting the queen ants even more disturbing.
Queen ants are vital for any colony as they are the only ones capable of laying eggs that grow into worker, soldier and future queen ants. Trafficking could therefore jeopardise colonies.
