Leaf Cutting Ants in South Korea

[Acromyrmexbob]

Over the past 2 years I have been speaking to an amazing gentleman in South Korea, Dr Kwang Yeong Joo, who is incharge of the Live animal exhibits at the National Institute of South Korea. He had a crazy idea of putting Leaf Cutting Ants on public display in a country that does not allow the importation of any non native species. And 2 years later I set off on my journey to Korea, with the ants, knowing that Kwang Yeong has succeeded in persuading the Korean authorities to allow him to bring these ants to the Korean public. This blog is the story of the trip.

The Institute in Korea is truly spectacular. It is world class.



The biospheres are incredibly well set up, really well done. As good as any botanic gardens in the west.



They have probably one of the best 'Ant Zoos' in the world also.











The Leaf Cutting Ants were destined for a facility behind the scenes which genuinely left me absolutely staggered. Imagine a Quarrantine department giving permission for these ants to be brought in to the country but specifying a facility that isolates the ants better than a deadly disease pathogen or a priceless work of art. Check this out.
When I arrived with the ants I first of all had to pass through two steel doors with a safe style lock mechanism.





Through that door there was another door with a key pad entry system.



Then through this door you are in a corridor which leads to another key pad entry system to get you into the Leaf Cutting Ant room. Off this corridor are another two rooms. One id destined for Honey Pot Ants and the Other for Weaver Ants.



Through this door and we were finally in the room where the ants would be kept.
I will tell more of this story on my next visit.

[Acromyrmexbob]

So the ants were housed in special little boxes which look as though they cost well over £100 each with their brass fittings etc. There were literally hundreds of these boxes!!!

In the secure room the Koreans had built acrylic tanks, again they were spectacular.







They had dozens of spare boxes over and above the boxes they were using....



and to look after the 8 colonies of ants they had 4 people, full time!! Now thats doing it right!

[Acromyrmexbob]

I spent a week working with them. The people there are very conscientious and very easy to work with. I absolutely loved them. It was a highlight of my ant career. Hope to go back and do more with them soon!

[Acromyrmexbob]

The actual set up is worth seeing.

The nest is a standard series of boxes with an above ground section which lets the ants move around before entering the walkway...



The walk way is very impressive, glass and acrylic.





and the feeding tables allow for 4 different areas and different food plants if desired.

[Acromyrmexbob]

Back about 3 weeks now.

So when the ants first went in the fungus was pretty much destroyed. What I didnt say was that the box with the 8 colonies in was packed for transit time of around 30 hours. With me on the plane the box of ants was brought to the plane at Heathrow and put on the aircraft. However someone noticed that the paperwork was not there but had been left back at the handler. So the guy drove back to the office for it and by the time he got back the plane had left minus the box. I only discovered this when I landed in South Korea to discover my box was in London still. When I finally got my box the ants had been packed for 55 hours!!! The fungus was destroyed! After 3 days of intensive care the fungus was showing some signs of recovery...







however we worked basically night and day on them for the week I was there and the guys there have done amazing work in the 2 weeks since. Heres some pictures I received yesterday of the colonies. Can you believe the difference!











cannot begin to tell you how happy I am about that and how proud I am about them.

[Acromyrmexbob]

The growth rate of the fungus is more down to the attention the colonies are getting from the keepers than any massive sized colonies, although they were not small colonies. It is incredibly impressive what they have done with these colonies in such a short time. They are a very professional team.

[Acromyrmexbob]

So here are some other pictures of the ant related bits and pieces around this world class zoo display:

Three of the greatest ant related scientists in the world are shown in these pictures.....



The South Koreans take their ants very seriously!!!





This next picture shows a Termite display, one of the most difficult organisms to show off in any interesting way!



Some more ant related stuff...





All in all an amazingly well done exhibit, I think you will agre

[Deansie26]

The zoo looks pretty futuristic with some really nice exhibits, no expense spared by the looks of it. That security is pretty of the scale.
They must have been like royalty the first ever leafcutting ant colony to arrive on their shores. Did you have to teach them on how to care for them?
Where they some big colonies your took over, fungus is getting huge. So have the ants emptied that box of soil? is that it you can see on the other side of the acrylic?

[Acromyrmexbob]

Yes, I posted further up the page. We just gave them enough soil so they could modify the ventillation. Its amazing we can work with the ants and give them the tools to fix our design failures.

[Acromyrmexbob]

Just had some new pictures through from South Korea. Their Atta colonies are looking superb. They have grown so well and are ready to be moved in February to their huge public exhibit area. Very exciting. I am scheduled to go over to South Korea in Feb to lend a hand.