IAG Cargo transports six white rhinos from Johannesburg to Miami
IAG Cargo hosted six special white rhinos on British Airways’ first A380 flight to Miami yesterday. The rhinos made their journey from Johannesburg, South Africa to Miami as part of efforts to ensure the continued genetic diversity of the species.
Gabriella Tamasi, Product Manager for Live Animals at IAG Cargo, said: “The A380 allows us to control the hold temperature to within one degree of accuracy – which is really important as rhinos give off a lot of body heat and we need to keep the temperature as comfortable as possible for these magnificent creatures.”
This story was originally covered by our sister publication African Business Review.
Specialists from IAG Cargo alongside veterinary teams were available throughout the voyage to ensure a comfortable and relaxed flight. They were transported via IAG Cargo’s Live Animals, which specialises in the movement of animals of all types, shapes and sizes.
Watch a video of their incredible journey here.
Poaching and habitat destruction have caused a massive drop in the number of white rhinos in the past but recently they have become a conservation success story. Numbers in the wild dropped to as low as 50 in the early at the turn of the last century, but increased to more than 20,000, becoming the most populous of all the rhino species.
IAG Cargo was created following the merger of British Airways World Cargo and Iberia Cargo in 2011. In 2014 the operations of British Airways World Cargo and Iberia Cargo had a commercial revenue of €992 million. It has a workforce of over 2,400 people covering a network of over 350 destinations across the planet.
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