One Ant for $220: The New Frontier of Wildlife Trafficking
Monday, 2026/04/06146 words2 minutes435 reads
Kenya has a new problem with wildlife crime. People are catching and selling queen ants illegally.
The giant African harvester ant is very popular. One queen ant can cost $220. These ants are big and red. People like to keep them as pets in special boxes.
Queen ants are easy to catch during the rainy season. They fly out of their homes to mate. After mating, one queen can start a whole new colony. She can live for many years.
Last year, police found 5,000 queen ants at a guest house. The ants were in small tubes. People wanted to take them to Europe and Asia to sell them. This month, police caught another person with 2,000 ants at the airport.
This trade is illegal in Kenya. Scientists worry that taking too many ants can hurt nature. The ants help plants grow by moving seeds around.
