Anteaters, flamingos, jaguars, lemurs, monkeys and even penguins. These are just some of the animals transported throughout 2023 by GOLLOG Animals, a service offered by GOLLOG, the logistics solutions unit of GOL Linhas Aéreas. Since the beginning of the trip, the Company has had a team dedicated to ensuring the integrity of the species throughout the entire journey. This year, 550 wild animals moved across the country with GOLLOG.
In addition to the training itself – carried out to transport any type of animal, pet or wild –, Employees are mobilized to carry out fast and very well supervised transport (with several notified areas accompanying).
Most of the time, this transport is delicate, as it is a rescued animal in recovery, a species moving for breeding and continuity of the species, a very small or large and skittish being, among other possibilities. In most cases, species travel to/from zoos, environmental reserves, research institutes and parks.
“When we are called to transport a wild animal, such as a jaguar, we request from GOL's internal areas in order to prepare to respond quickly. We anticipate loading equipment, boarding gate numbers and dedicated people. This way, we are able to guarantee quick service, aiming for the safety of the animal and our operation”, comments Keila Izaias, analyst responsible for the GOLLOG Animals service.
The transport box is the main item of the trip, which guarantees a comfortable and safe flight. For the transport of wild animals, boxes made of solid wood, plywood, naval, fiberglass, metal or other similar material are accepted, provided with locks on all sides. As for size, the assessment is made according to the species, but there must be enough space for the animal's comfort, always valuing the natural position.
Another concern at GOLLOG is the comfort of animals during the flight. In the case of two lemurs, who traveled from São Paulo to Brasília, they were offered some fruit inside the transport box to satisfy themselves during the journey.
According to Rafael Martau, executive director of GOLLOG, the transport of wild animals is carried out frequently and, as this is a very peculiar logistics, he sees with pride and responsibility GOL's participation in the history of each species and in the preservation of the biodiversity and the environment.
Trust in GOLLOG's service is such that, since 2021, explorers from the Mantis Project, an organization dedicated to conserving and documenting wildlife, have transported different species of praying mantis. In a recent expedition carried out in Roraima, researchers returned to Rio de Janeiro with around 110 praying mantises in the cargo compartment of a GOL plane, with the intention of studying the localized species.
In some cases, GOLLOG offers the animal transport service at a discount or even free of charge, depending on the requesting institution. For more information, visit the GOLLOG website.
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