"Buried within numbers and codes is a steady stream of #wildAnimals arriving in #Armenia from Congo, Lebanon, and Iran, only to vanish from official radar. This is the story of how Armenia remains a grey hub for the #wildlifeTrade: where exotic and #endangeredSpecies imported through international schemes are rerouted to private collections..."

https://evnreport.com/environment/ahead-of-cop17-armenia-remains-a-wildlife-laundromat-2/
#COP17 #biodiversity #wildlifeTrafficking #illegalWildlifeTrade #wildlifeSmuggling @nature

Brazil's rare golden lion tamarins are being smuggled to Asian black markets. A look at the risks these small animals face. #wildlifetrafficking

https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-global-trafficking-ring-preying-on-a-rare-golden-monkey-from-brazil/

RT by @catherinemep: #WildlifeTrafficking generates up to USD 23 billion a year, and #socialmedia is helping to drive demand.

In April, IFAW sat down with six French content creators to figure out how to change that. Read the takeaways here: 👇

https://www.ifaw.org/journal/content-creators-join-ifaw-fight-against-wildlife-trafficking
---
https://nitter.net/ifawEU/status/2056650417816129580#m

East Bay Times: Report: Facebook is main tool for criminals selling endangered wild animals. “The company, owned by Meta, which made $60 billion in profit last year according to regulatory filings, did not directly dispute claims in the report that it hosted some 16,000 advertisements for illegally trafficked wildlife — about three-quarters of the total ads researchers identified — or that […]

Kenya’s newest wildlife scandal involves ants, airport security, and a very ambitious suitcase

Dear Cherubs, Nairobi has somehow joined the list of places where even ants are apparently worth smuggling. According to Reuters, Chinese national Zhang Kequn, 27, was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in March 2026 after investigators said they found 2,238 live garden ants in his luggage, including 1,948 packed in test tubes and the rest hidden in tissue-paper rolls.

THE BIG SWITCH

This was not a random insect mishap. Reuters reported that Zhang had been in Kenya for two weeks, that officials linked him to three alleged accomplices, and that immigration had already flagged a stop order on his passport after he evaded arrest in Kenya the year before. Investigators were also checking his phone and laptop, which suggests this was less “oops” and more “organized inconvenience with legs.”

The species at the center of the case was Messor cephalotes, the giant African harvester ant, which Reuters said is sought after by ant enthusiasts who keep colonies in formicariums, those transparent habitats where people watch ant society do its highly efficient thing. Reuters also reported that export of the species from Kenya requires a Kenya Wildlife Service licence and a health certificate. So no, this was not a souvenir for the minibar.

WHY THE SMALL STUFF MATTERS

The bigger story is the shift in wildlife trafficking from iconic animals to smaller species that still matter ecologically. Reuters reported that Kenya’s wildlife service described an earlier 2025 ant case as a milestone in the fight against biopiracy because it involved the attempted export of Kenya’s genetic resources without prior informed consent or benefit-sharing. ENACT Africa says smuggling live ants can violate Kenya’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Act and fits the definition of biopiracy. Tiny package, big legal problem.

The 2025 case makes the whole thing even stranger. Reuters reported that about 5,000 queen ants were concealed in modified test tubes and syringes designed to keep them alive for up to two months and slip past airport security. The same report said the haul had a street value of about 1 million Kenyan shillings, which is a lot of money for something most people would not notice unless it crawled into their shoe.

What Kenya is dealing with here is not just a quirky airport bust. It is a reminder that the black market keeps adapting, and that conservation can’t stop at the big, photogenic species. Ants may be small, but they help sustain ecosystems, and the demand for rare ones has turned them into a cross-border commodity. Nature, as ever, is doing the most while humans turn it into a side hustle.

Sources list:
Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenya-arrests-man-trying-smuggle-over-2000-live-ants-his-luggage-2026-03-12/
Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyan-court-charges-two-men-including-chinese-citizen-with-smuggling-live-ants-2026-03-17/
Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyan-agents-bust-plot-smuggle-giant-ants-sale-foreign-insect-lovers-2025-04-15/
ENACT Africa — https:

//enactafrica.org/enact-observer/ant-smuggling-and-biopiracy-threaten-kenya-s-ecology
Wikimedia Commons image source — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_an_ant,_full_face_view.jpg
thisclaimer.com — https://thisclaimer.com
Thisclaimer YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@thisclaimer?sub_confirmation=1

One ant for $220: The new frontier of wildlife trafficking

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4g44zv37qo

#HackerNews #wildlifetrafficking #wildlifeconservation #animalrights #biodiversity #environmentalissues

Environmental crime or wildlife crime are crimes which are destructive or extractive to nature
"Crime and punishment in the outback: A review of extractive and destructive green crime cases in Australia's criminal justice system."

" Illegal activities harming the environment and aimed at benefiting individuals or groups or companies from the exploitation of, damage to, trade or theft of natural resources, including, but not limited to serious crimes and transnational organized crime"

"In 2018 a farmhand in rural Victoria, Australia, was found guilty of the illegal killing of over 400 wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), a large and long-lived bird of prey which is protected under the Wildlife Act 1975 (Vic) "
>>
Onley, I. R., Alber, J., Smith, K. A. F., Toole, K., Chadwick, D. L., Williams, C., & Cassey, P. (2026). Crime and punishment in the outback: A review of extractive and destructive green crime cases in Australia's criminal justice system. Conservation Science and Practice, e70232. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70232

#Biodiversity #extractivism #CITES #monetisation #TakeCulture #WildlifeTrafficking #LandClearing #Fishing #WildlifeTrade #reptiles #WaterTheft #CriminalJusticeSystem #WEC #harm #exploitation #CompanionSpecies #GreenCrimes

Crime against wildlife is surging in Australia
Flogging off native animals and plants

" Around the world, wildlife and environmental crime is surging. It is estimated to be the fourth largest organised transnational crime sector, and to be growing at a rate two to three times faster than the global economy."

"This is a considerable problem, because Australia has unique and endemic wildlife species, high extinction rates, and is a country that is difficult to police due to its sheer size and vast remote areas. Our new, Australia-first study addresses this knowledge gap."

"We don’t understand the full extent and impact of these crimes in Australia, but we do know they can be disastrous. Wildlife trafficking and illegal trade erodes biodiversity through the removal of native species from their habitats. It also fuels the spread of invasive species, parasites and diseases."

"Over half of the environmental crimes (61.3%) occurred in outer regional and remote areas of Australia. "
>>
https://theconversation.com/crime-against-wildlife-is-surging-in-australia-these-4-reforms-can-help-tackle-it-273006
#Biodiversity #extractivism #CITES #monetisation #TakeCulture #WildlifeTrafficking #crime #loggingImpacts #deforestation #LandClearing #ecosystems #destruction #Trade #pets #consumption #NativeSpecies #flora #reptiles #birds #extinction #WEC #fishing #harm #exploitation