TWO saltwater crocodiles have been airfreighted from Queensland, Australia to Dubai.
It took 10 animal handlers to capture 40-year-old King Croc, measuring five metres long and weighing 750kg, and his friend of 20 years Queen Croc – measuring 3.2 metres and weighing 186 kg.
During a six-hour ground operation, the crocs were loaded onto purpose-built crates and once safely aboard the aircraft they took a 12,000-km trip to their new home at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo at the Dubai Mall.
Animal specialists from Freightworks met them at Sharjah Airport to assist the animals’ Customs clearance, vet inspection and final delivery transportation in temperature-controlled trucks.
“We built crates for them that were specifically designed to ensure the temperature was controlled and the animals could be accessed and viewed from multiple points,” says Greg Giarratana, national airfreight development manager of Mainfreight.
Mark Simon, director of commercial operations at Freightworks, adds: “The success of this job was driven by the teamwork between Mainfreight and Freightworks and the passion of the individuals involved to ensure that this unique project went to plan from start to finish.”
Both companies are members of the WACO System, an independent global freight management and logistics network, with members in more than 92 countries covering more than 400 locations.
