Smuggled in syringes: how Nairobi became a nexus for the black market in giant harvester ants

Court cases in Kenya point to a growing market for ants as exotic pets in Asia and Europe that has implications for conservation and biosecurity In the biblical text Book of Proverbs, King Solomon describes the harvester ant as a model of wisdom and industriousness: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Almost 3,000 years later, the thriving international parallel market for a distinct species of the ant native to east Africa has been thrust into the global spotlight after a series of convictions in Kenya for ant smuggling. In the most recent case, Zhang Kequn, a Chinese national, was sentenced to a year in prison and fined 1 million Kenyan shillings (£5,690) on 15 April after his arrest in March at Jomo Kenyatta international airport, where authorities found more than 2,200 live ants in specialised tubes in his luggage that was destined for China. The insects included 1,948 Messor cephalotes, a prized species commonly known as the giant African harvester ant. The presiding principal magistrate, Irene Gichobi, said a “deterrent sentence” was needed because of rising cases of ant smuggling in Kenya and the ecological impact of the trade. Kequn’s case was the