Dar es Salaam, April 16 -- KENYA: THE Kenyan Wildlife Service said the case was a shift from smuggling larger mammals to “ecologically critical species.” The two Belgian teens pleaded guilty but said they were collecting the ants for fun.

Kenyan authorities brought four men, including two Belgian teenagers, before court on Tuesday, charged with wildlife piracy over the smuggling of ants.

The trafficking of body parts of larger species of wild animals is common in Kenya, with authorities in the past combating the smuggling of body parts of elephants, rhinos and pangolins, among others.

But the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) described this case as “a shift in trafficking trends — from iconic larg...