Belgian nationals Lornoy David, left, and Seppe Lodewijckx, right, who admitted to charges related to the illegal possession and trafficking of live queen ants, walk out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A relative hugs Belgian national Seppe Lodewijckx, right, who is charged to related illegal possession and trafficking of live queen ants to sell as exotic pets, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday.聽
Belgian nationals Lornoy David, left, and Seppe Lodewijckx, right, walk out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Kenyan officials display live queen ants insects that were destined for Europe and Asia, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, April. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given $7,700 fine or 1-year prison sentence
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) 鈥 Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were fined $7,700 or the option to serve 12 months in prison 鈥 the maximum penalty for the offense 鈥 for violating wildlife conservation laws.
Belgian nationals Lornoy David, left, and Seppe Lodewijckx, right, who admitted to charges related to the illegal possession and trafficking of live queen ants, walk out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) 鈥 Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were fined $7,700 or the option to serve 12 months in prison 鈥 the maximum penalty for the offense 鈥 for violating wildlife conservation laws.
The teenagers were found with the ants, which authorities said 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. They were charged on April 15.
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Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya鈥檚 main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were na茂ve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them 鈥 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.
The illegal export of the ants 鈥渘ot only undermines Kenya鈥檚 sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,鈥 KWS said in a statement.
