Mumbai Airport Seizes 100 Exotic Animals in Latest Smuggling Bust

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Customs officials at Mumbai Airport caught a nervous passenger smuggling nearly 100 exotic animals from Bangkok, including live iguanas, a honey bear, and rare tarantulas.

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Of the 80 iguanas discovered, 30 were already dead - revealing the brutal reality of wildlife trafficking where animals suffer in cramped, hidden compartments.

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Photographer Ingo Arndt's macro lens revealed the pungent, acid-spraying colonies and their complex activities.

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The colony places resin throughout their nests after treating it with formic acid spray to fight bacterial and fungal pathogens.

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Forest protection occurs when ants bite wood-boring beetles and spray formic acid into their wounds.

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The ants protect aphids from enemies while collecting their honeydew excretions as their primary food source.

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Acid sprays from these nests help Eurasian jays eliminate parasites like mites and lice from their feathers.

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Several European countries, including Germany, protect these ants as logging, urbanization and climate change reduce their numbers.

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Each nest combines above and below-ground networks built with needles, leaves, bark, and twigs through burrowing.

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Red wood ant colonies influence forest health through their defensive tactics and relationships with various species.

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