Smuggling of ants and strange human hobbies

A mixed feeling of disbelief and surprise has taken over readers who recently came across the news of arrest of a man for smuggling of ants at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Yes, you have read it right -- the charge against a Chinese national is the violation of international bio-diversity treaties. But this is not the first such case. Last May a Kenyan court sentenced four men -- two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan -- to one year in prison or a fine of $7,700 for attempting to smuggle thousands of African garden queen ants, particularly Messor cephalotes in the first such case. So, this is the second such case.

What, then, is the purpose of this illegal clandestine export? No, they are not meant for any aphrodisiac purposes such as elephant's ivory or rhino's horn is reputed for or for any medicinal value. They enjoy high demand in Asian and European lucrative market for keeping them as pets. While in this tropical part of the world ants, size notwithstanding, are considered a nuisance because they beeline the sugar or any other sweet pot or protein-rich food. People want to get rid of these tiny creatures at any cost.

However, there are people always looking for taking their living style and preferences to extraordinary levels. These smuggled queen ants are displayed in artificially fashioned nests called formicariums. The smuggled ants fetch high values for the parties involved in smuggling. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) suspects that cities other than Nairobi are also used as transit points and routes. In this case, Zhang Kegun, suspected to be the ring leader, was caught red-handed with more than 2,000 queen ants in his luggage -- most of those in specialised test tubes. Of those, about 300 live ants were found concealed in three rolls of tissue papers.

The KWS further suspects that Zhang was involved in last May's smuggling attempt but he got out of Kenya by using a different passport. Now why are the Kenyan authorities so sensitive about the smuggling of queen ants out of the country? They recognise the value of creatures as tiny as ants. The ants aerate soil, disperse seeds, cycle nutrients and control pest population. It may be a hobby for some European and Asian people to keep these exotic insects as pets but at the cost of natural ecosystem in the country of origin. Now that the KWS focuses more on its prized animals such as lions and elephant, attention to insects like ants is naturally overshadowed. But they are not totally out of sight as is the case in this part of the world. Following this month's haul of the ant consignment, the authorities there have expressed their determination to dismantle the smuggling ring all across that country.

Against this background, how do the ant nests particularly the weaver ant nests or leaf nests fare? The professional collectors of these nests would not rest until the last of such nests in a village, woods or forests is brought down. Whether it has its adverse effects on environment or ecosystem of a place is none of their concern. In fact, even educated people feel, these people are doing a good job by destroying the stinging insects. Many of the highly useful species have thus disappeared for ever from this land. Not all ants are likely to go extinct but some are sure to do so.

Then this country has several kinds of ants. How is the equation between humans and ants? Certainly not amicable! When people discover that the thief ants have been foraging into their pot of sugar or their bigger counterparts are swimming into the milk pot or taking away rice one after another from the bucket, they wish there were no such creatures on the Earth.

The small ants have different categories and sizes starting from the tiniest speck to a quarter of a millimetre. Some even bite when they somehow reach an awkward part of human body. But these ants are not aggressive like the reddish garden ants which make a nest on tree tops and their eggs are highly priced. Stings such ants deliver are poisonously painful. But the largest of all such ants are the black ants which has two protruding fangs. They get the bite so tight with their pincer-like fangs that once they manage to have someone within their range, it is nearly impossible to set one free from its grip.

Extensive studies of such ants can reveal Nature's secrets. The small ants of all categories -- ghost ants, pharaoh ants, thief ants and sugar ants -- store their food before winter. They sense before any humanly devised equipment that floods will sweep the area. Some even are convinced that ants can have an idea of earthquake long before it happens. Ants may be very small but their perseverance and foreknowledge are stronger than humans.