International
Four men pleaded guilty on Monday for attempting to smuggle protected ants out of Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) typically protects large fauna such as lions and elephants, but has described this as a landmark smuggling case.
The ants in question are giant African harvester ants, valued by some UK dealers at up to £170 ($220) each. Pat Stanchev, general manager of Best Ants UK, told BBC collectors seek them as pets due to their “big and beautiful size.”
KWS confiscated hundreds of “specially modified test tubes and syringes” engineered to keep the ants alive for two months during transport. The contents (two or three ants per tube) were obscured via cotton wool packed into the container.
The scale of the smugglers’ “bio-piracy” is unprecedented and marks a “disturbing shift in trafficking patterns – from iconic mammals to lesser-known species that are vital to ecological balance,” KWS spokesperson Paul Udoto told BBC.
Giant African harvesters are protected under international biodiversity treaties, so trading them is not easy.
“This prosecution sends a strong message that Kenya will enforce compliance and marks a significant step forward in Kenya’s fight against unconventional wildlife crimes,” KWS said.
National
On Sunday, Michelle Tulpin received shocking public support in moving merchandise to her new bookstore with community members lining the sidewalk to form a “book brigade.”
Just a few weeks prior to the move, Tulpin asked the community for volunteers to help bring Serendipity Books to its new location.
“When I first came out [of the bookstore] to see if we were ready to go, people started to clap,” she told MLive. “Oh my gosh, and then I just burst into tears.”
Two lines of helpers stood on either side of the sidewalk all the way from Tulpin’s original location to the new store. Passing them one at a time down the line, the crowd transported 9,100 books in less than two hours.
“It was a practical way to move the books, but it also was a way for everybody to have a part,” Tulpin said. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one.’”
She reported groups of “type A”, the more organized supporters formed at either end of the line to sort the books properly. By the time people left, they had shelved every book alphabetically.
“I knew in theory that the bookstore has a really central place in the community,” Tulpin said. “People talk about that a lot and talk about what we do for the community… But to see it actually in action and to come out of the bookstore and see all those people lined up was just extraordinary.”
Local
Oklahoma City police arrested the CEO of an Edmond cyber security firm on Monday after he attacked St. Anthony hospital with malware.
Court documents show security cameras caught Jeffrey Bowie wandering the halls on August 6, attempting to enter offices until he found an unattended computer.
Authorities say within 10 minutes he installed “malware designed to take a screenshot every 20 minutes and forward the image out to an external IP address.”
When confronted by an employee, Bowie claimed he had a family member undergoing surgery and needed the computer.
KOCO 5 spoke with his previous employer, Alias Cyber Security, who reported letting him go due to ethical concerns.
“Some people just do things out of desperation just trying to grow themselves and stuff like that,” Donovan Farrow, CEO of Alias Cyber Security told KOCO 5. “I love the cybersecurity community. I want everyone to grow in that, but this is uncalled for, and it puts a bit of a stain on this type of business.”
St. Anthony informed KOCO 5 that no patient information was leaked.
0
0
Be First to Comment