When an international flight carrying eight critically endangered mountain bongo antelopes encountered an unexpected delay, a dedicated conservation team turned a moment of uncertainty into a successful rescue during an early February morning.
Bound for Kenya, the flight was taxiing for departure the night before at Palm Beach International Airport when a mechanical issue caused the pilot to return to the gate. After four hours of diagnostics by the operator, SkyTaxi, the flight was canceled. The eight crated and tranquilized bongos remained onboard.
The bongos — five females and three males — were born and raised at Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF) in Loxahatchee, FL under the care of its director, Paul Reillo and RSCF operations director and FIU alumnus Matt Morris. Reillo is a research professor at FIU and director of the university's Tropical Conservation Institute. The Florida-born bongos are part of a complex, long-term recovery effort for this critically endangered species in Kenya, the only native habitat for the species.
When Reillo was contacted overnight by the charter company, Air Charter Services, that it would be at least another day before the flight could be rescheduled, he knew the animals had to return to RSCF.
Transporting the endangered bongo antelopes from Florida to Kenya requires months of preparation, precisely timed tranquilization and supportive care, and strict adherence to schedules. The carefully choreographed journey from Florida to a new bongo sanctuary on Mt. Kenya takes at least 30 hours. Any significant delay or flight cancellation becomes a matter of life or death for the animals.
Morris was on board with the animals along with an attending veterinarian. Both were required to disembark once the flight was grounded shortly after midnight but the flight operator assured them the aircraft would remain ventilated while the bongo remained onboard. Reillo mobilized a rescue team, including the ground-transport driver and a 54-foot flatbed truck owned and operated by Walpole Feed & Supply in Okeechobee.
At first light, Reillo and the driver arrived at the disabled aircraft, discovering it was without power and the cargo door closed, leaving the crated animals without ventilation.
