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BIFA Awards
www.bifa.org
COOL & SPECIAL CARGOES AWARD
American Airlines Cargo provides one of the largest cargo networks in the world with cargo terminals and interline connections across the globe. Every day, American transports cargo between major cities in
the US, Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia.
and special health certificates were required to comply with EU and federal German legislation. Sadly, there are many instances of animals being transported in vehicles that do not meet basic requirements such as proper temperature control and insulation. Knowles suggested more spotchecks could help improve the welfare of animals in transit. Animal transport experience JCS Livestock has been working in the field of live animal transport for over three decades. Examples of its broad experience include the movement of four male gorillas from the UK to Gabon and several leaf-eating gibbons back to Indonesia, all for release into the wild. On another occasion, the company assembled 21 scimitar-horned oryx from the UK, Ireland and Europe at a UK zoo for pre-export quarantine. “We made their crates and shipped the oryx from Heathrow to Dubai as part of an international breeding programme in the desert,” Knowles outlined. “Their direct offspring were airlifted into Chad and released into the wild – and our clients in the UAE have used our crates as a template for new shipping containers.” JCS Livestock has also worked with the Born Free Foundation, rescuing lions, tigers and leopards from circus trailers. “Every job is different, but they are all part of a conservation project, one way or another,” Knowles said. • Since winning the BIFA award, JCS Livestock has moved another group of penguins from the UK to Dublin, Ireland, in a temperature-controlled vehicle. In addition, said Knowles: “In February 2022, we moved a large number of adult birds to France to assist farmers who had not been able to truck day-old chicks over for several reasons, including avian influenza restrictions.” JCS Livestock flew a vast quantity of birds to Paris on three full chartered Boeing 737s within a two-week window during Storm Eunice and Storm Franklin. Together with wholly owned and third-party regional carriers operating as American Eagle, the airlines operate an average of approximately 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in over 50 countries
Half of the penguins out and exploring their new pool
JCS Livestock picks up 14 stranded penguins
The winner of the 2021 Cool & Special Cargoes Award was JCS Livestock, which supported a breeding programme for rare Humboldt penguins, working around COVID-19 restrictions to deliver them safely to a new home
Philip Knowles: Every job is different, but they are all part of a conservation project, one way or another.
JCS Livestock (a division of James Cargo Services) provides live animal transport for over 40 British zoos and wildlife parks, said general manager Philip Knowles. Early in 2021, the company relocated a colony of 14 Humboldt penguins from Curraghs Wildlife Park on the Isle of Man to the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry, Northern Ireland, as part of a European Endangered Species Programme breeding initiative.
having to go into a 14-day quarantine. Once loaded onto one of JCS Livestock’s temperature-controlled vehicles, which kept them cool, the birds crossed the Irish Sea back to England on a ferry. Humboldt penguins derive the moisture they need from their food, so they were offered sprats regularly during their 660- mile, 19-hour journey – which finally took them to Belfast Port and on to their new home. Also during 2021, JCS Livestock moved three lionesses from London Zoo to Germany. The big cats travelled on a direct flight to Frankfurt owing to limitations at the Border Control Post in Calais,
Circuitous route COVID-19, unsurprisingly, threw up
complications. The move should have been a simple boat trip across the Irish Sea; instead, JCS Livestock had to make alternative arrangements. A dispensation allowed staff to collect the penguins from Douglas Port without
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October 2022
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