00:05There are more individual ants than the entire population of the city of Nairobi over there.
00:12So every single individual you can see here, the big ones and the small ones.
00:18We're standing on the edge of a harvester ant nest here.
00:21These are the ants who've now become world famous because they're being traded.
00:25This harvester ant nest is one of the species that's really found across Africa,
00:31all the way from the Mediterranean down to the Cape.
00:35But here in East Africa, they are very abundant.
00:37They're one of our most common ants.
00:52You know, when I saw the prices people were paying for these ant queens, I was completely in shock
00:56because I also struggled as an entomologist to understand why are people so determined to have them.
01:03And I think it's because they're so beautiful, they're bright and red, they're gentle, they're not aggressive.
01:09They do a lot of interesting behaviours, they live for a long time.
01:13So that seems to be, to me, what people are passionate about.
01:16But it's, I think it's also just fashion.
01:18You know, sometimes people will pay a lot of money for a handbag or item of clothing
01:23and it seems a bit ridiculous and to me, that seems to be part of it.
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