What began as an odd curiosity has turned into a serious legal matter for two Belgian teenagers, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, who now face a steep fine or prison time in Kenya after being caught with thousands of ants intended for illegal export.
The pair were arrested on April 5 at a guesthouse in Nakuru County — a region well-known for its diverse and protected wildlife — after authorities discovered a carefully contained cache of 5,000 ants. Ten days later, formal charges were filed.
On Wednesday, Magistrate Njeri Thuku handed down a blunt verdict in a courtroom near Nairobi’s main airport: pay a fine of $7,700 or serve one year in jail, the minimum penalty under Kenya’s strict conservation laws.
“These weren’t just random insects scooped off the ground,” Thuku said. “The number alone tells us this was not an innocent hobby, and the species involved point to commercial intent.”
The ants in question included Messor cephalotes, a striking red harvester ant native to East Africa. According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), this particular species has seen rising interest abroad, especially among exotic pet collectors and online traders in Europe and Asia.
“There’s a growing black market for lesser-known species like these,” a KWS spokesperson said. “And this trade, though less visible, is just as harmful as trafficking big game.”
The teenagers initially claimed they were collecting for personal study. But the court didn’t buy it, citing the large volume and species rarity as strong indicators of intent to traffic.
Their lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua, accepted the ruling, telling reporters outside the court that while tough, the sentence was within the letter of the law. “There’s no room for the judge to lower the fine. So there won’t be an appeal,” she said.
In a separate but eerily similar case, the court also fined a Vietnamese national, Duh Hung Nguyen, and his Kenyan contact, Dennis Ng’ang’a, the same amount or risked a 12-month jail term. The two were found with 400 ants, reportedly bought from local sellers.
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Nguyen claimed he had flown into Kenya specifically to collect ants. Ng’ang’a, meanwhile, said he wasn’t aware the trade was illegal, believing ants were freely traded and even consumed locally. But Magistrate Thuku wasn’t convinced, calling the pair’s activities “part of an elaborate scheme.”
Experts warn that the illegal removal of ants from their ecosystems could have long-lasting effects. Dr. Shadrack Muya, an entomologist at Jomo Kenyatta University, explained that ants are more than just tiny creatures; they are ecological engineers.
“They aerate the soil, help with seed dispersal, and maintain ecosystem balance,” Muya said. “Taking them out of their habitat like this isn’t just theft — it’s environmental sabotage.”
He added that when ants are moved without proper scientific handling, survival rates plummet. “They’re unlikely to thrive elsewhere without careful, controlled adaptation. And where they’ve been taken from, the absence can cause serious disruptions.”
Kenya, like many countries rich in biodiversity, is now grappling with a new frontier in wildlife trafficking — one that doesn’t involve tusks or horns, but small, easily smuggled creatures that play outsized roles in nature.
As for the two Belgian teens, the court’s message was clear: no species is too small to be protected under the law.
