Illegal trade in rare insects on the rise • FRANCE 24 English

Over the past decade, specialized pet shops have been mushrooming. Like here in Valencen, northern France. Julian Parmon has received a new shipment from Africa. It comes from Cameroon but went through Nigeria and landed at Charles Deaul airport. 100 tiny creatures that Julian is going to sell. In this box, we have all sorts of insects. Beautiful spiders, crickets, giant millipedes, and all kinds of beetles. These insects will soon become pets living in terrariums with their new owners. I think it’s a novelty that appeals to people. We’re used to goldfish, hamsters, guinea pigs, but now people want something different. The most popular insects are exotic ants. Demand is soaring and some colonies sell for more than €300. Something that’s attracting the attention of illegal traffickers. Julian regularly receives offers in English sent straight to his mobile phone. They offer 50 or 60 different species at super attractive prices, but I know that there won’t be an invoice and that the insects won’t be shipped properly. They could stay in their boxes for up to 2 weeks. If the scheme works, though, they can earn up to 4,000 when they’re only investing one or 200. Julian says he’s always rejected these offers, but this dark trade is growing fast. Recently, the trial of two young Belgians and their accompllices made international headlines. Customs officers found 5,000 ants in their luggage packed in test tubes. They were worth tens of thousands of euros and were bound for European and Asian markets. This is where the traffickers were arrested in the Naasha region in Kenya. They were staying in this hotel. The owners have refused to comment. When investigators searched their rooms last April, they found ants carefully placed into syringes, but they didn’t collect these themselves. A whole network had been set up. Middlemen, resellers. We traced the chain back to the people who found the insects. These men want to remain anonymous. They’ve spotted an ant colony. Armed with their machetes, they are looking for the queen, the most expensive of all. There’s always a queen in every colony. Officially, these men are farmers, but this new job has become more lucrative. We were out in the fields when a man asked if we could find some insects. He said he’d pay, at first it was about €20. Now for a queen, he pays more than 30,000. He’s Kenyan, but we’re not allowed to contact him. Even when we have the insects, he’s the one who always reaches out and resells them immediately. The trend is worrying scientists like Dino Martins. The entomologist takes us to a giant ant colony near the capital Nairobi. According to him, this species is the most prized. Messa safalities harvester ants are one of the the most most wonderful most famous um ants that people have looked at. With their red heads, they are the biggest harvester ants in the world. The queen measures up to 2 1/2 cm. Oh, that’s amazing. They can actually bite you. They can give a little nip, but they’re not they’re not aggressive ants. They play a key role in the local ecosystem. Whether you’re a rhino or a buffalo or a giraffe or a person, we all should be very grateful to the ants because by dispersing the seeds of grasses, by creating structure in the soil. These ants are playing a very very important um ecological role. They are a keystone species. Without them, the savannah wouldn’t wouldn’t be able to function. When it comes to wildlife trafficking, Kenya is one of the most affected countries in the world. Elephants, rhinos, now ants. International crimes that generate nearly€20 billion every year.

The illegal trade in rare insects is booming across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Exotic ants, spiders and beetles are collected and sold as pets. Some species are worth a fortune on the global black market. But scientists are raising alarm bells, as many of these insects are vital to local ecosystems. Our France 2 colleagues report.
#WildlifeTrafficking #DownToEarth #Biodiversity

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