In the event of non-payment of the fine, the two Belgians will receive one year in prison.
In his verdict, the judge of a Nairobi court returned to certain declarations of the two young men. During a previous hearing, they had assured that they had shown themselves “naive” and have captured these ants to make a collection of them. The judge argued that it was a kind of great value and that they had thousands of them in their possession.
According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) nature protection organization, the defendants had bought test tubes and syringes “to keep the ants alive two months and bypass controls at the airport”.
The 5,000 queens of ants were hidden in 2,244 test tubes and syringes. The total value of insects was around the million Kenyan shillings (around 6,800 euros). “The judicial inquiry determined that the test tubes aimed to keep the ants alive for two months and to escape the security of the airport,” said the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) nature protection organization.
-Among the 5,000 insects were mesor cephalotes, a kind of large ants, sought after by collectors.
The fine inflicted on the two Belgians should correspond to the market value of captured animals.
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