A Kenyan court on Wednesday fined four men $7,700 each for attempting to traffic thousands of ants out of the country.

Wildlife experts said that this signals a shift in biopiracy from iconic animals such as elephants to lesser-known species.

Authorities arrested two Belgian teenagers, a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national on April 5, accusing them of trying to smuggle roughly 5,440 giant African harvester ant queens.

Kenyan prosecutors valued 5,440 ants at around 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,300).

However, retail prices in the UK suggested that the haul might fetch as much as $1 million if it reached European shores.

Ant keepers in Europe maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums to observe their cooperative behaviour.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku ordered the traffickers, who all pleaded guilty, to pay the fine or face 12 months in jail.

(Reuters/NAN)