MOUNTAIN bongo antelopes and bear sculptures were among some of the unusual cargoes moved by international logistics business DHL during 2025.
The company has produced a list of the more wild and wonderful consignments transported during the year that is rapidly ending.
Back in June 2025, 151 life-sized fibreglass bear sculptures were shipped about 10,000km from Wustermark near Berlin to Singapore.
Known as the United Buddy Bears, this colourful art project was launched in Berlin more than two decades ago as a message of peace and tolerance.
Every bear is painted by an artist from a different country, symbolising that nation’s culture and identity.
Weighing 37 tonnes, the shipment was packed into eight sea containers, loaded by crane onto trucks, and transported to the Port of Hamburg.
From there, the bears began their sea voyage to Singapore, where they were displayed for two months.
A bongo antelope is released into its sanctuary at Mt Kenya. Image: DHL
In February, DHL transported 17 mountain bongo antelopes from a conservation centre in Florida, to a wildlife sanctuary on the slopes of Mount Kenya, Africa.
These animals are descendants of mountain bongos relocated from Kenya in the 1970s.
The species is critically endangered due to poaching and habitat loss.
DHL says it provided a dedicated flight with custom-built crates to ensure the bongos’ safety and comfort.
Their new sanctuary offers a secure environment where they can breed and thrive, hopefully one day returning to the wild.
In March the company flew a racing car driver’s helmet from Switzerland to Brazil, the helmet being signed by all 20 living Formula 1® world champions, notably including seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
His wife, Corinna, helped guide his hand to write his initials, “M.S.”, on the helmet.
An unusual passenger boarded a DHL flight from Bahrain to Djibouti, East Africa, in November 2025, that being Saadoon, a young male baboon.
Discovered abandoned and unwell in Bahrain (a country where baboons are not native), last year when he was just three months old, Saadoon was a victim of illegal wildlife trading.
A crate especially made for a baboon. Image: DHL
After more than a year of intensive care, he needed to be transported to Djibouti for a better lift.
DHL flew Saadoon from Muharraq in Bahrain to Djibouti airport, where he was transferred to a refuge near Djibouti City.
The trip required custom boxes, veterinary oversight and an accompanying animal welfare representative to minimise.
Now living in a sanctuary tailored to his needs, Saadoon shares a new home with a female baboon, said to be essential for social bonding.
In November 2025, DHL delivered the famous trophy for the CONMEBOL Libertadores Final, South America’s most prestigious club football showdown. The journey began at CONMEBOL’s headquarters in Luque, Paraguay, and ended in Lima, Peru, where the decisive match took place on November 29.