HOW WE FLY
How one retired panda came home in style. By PHIL HEARD高齡熊貓如何榮歸故里頤養天年？ Phil Heard為你作旅程簡介
PHIL HEARD meets a VIP – Very Important Panda
CATHAY PACIFIC QUITE
often flies celebrities and business leaders. Now the airline can count a new category of VIP – that is, a Very Important Panda.
Gao Gao has returned home after a successful 15-year stint at San Diego Zoo in California. While there he fathered no less than five cubs – a very important effort indeed for the vulnerable breed. Now aged 26, the equivalent of 80 in human years, he was returning to the Chinese Centre for Research and Conservation for the Giant Panda in Dujiangyan, close to Chengdu.
Cathay Pacific has considerable expertise in carrying live animals – from relocating family pets to moving valuable horses for race meetings. But pandas are always a special consignment, and this was an epic trip for the old fellow
– by truck to Los Angeles, and then a freighter to Hong Kong with a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, for fuel, and then the final leg to Chengdu.
He travelled with a retinue of keepers and even the zoo’s director of veterinary services. Although Gao Gao was in his crate on the main deck, the zoo personnel travelled in style in the upper deck ‘bubble’ – six seats behind the 747’s flight deck. Kathy Hawk, a senior keeper at San Diego Zoo, says: ‘ The neat thing was being able to see him during the flight, check on him regularly and tend to his needs.’
The secret of a successful shipment is getting the animals accustomed to the barrage of noises in cargo warehouses and on aircraft. Being towed across the tarmac at an airport with whining and roaring jet engines all around is a particular challenge.
Hawk says: ‘ We get them used to the crate, and the noises of forklifts, buzzers and beepers. We try to desensitise them as much as we can to make the journey as stress-free as possible.’
Discovery caught up with Gao Gao and his team at the Large Animal Handling Centre, a special part of the state- ofthe-art Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport where he was waiting for his connecting flight to Chengdu. The journey had gone well. Hawk adds: ‘ The only thing is he gets a bit huffy when the plane is coming into land because the noises are different, but nothing serious.’
The biggest issue? Saying goodbye for the final time. ‘ We’ve lost our hearts to him. But he’s going back to his home and that’s an important aspect of our work.’
國泰航空經常接載名人紅星及商界領袖飛往世界各地，最近還增添了全新類別的尊貴乘客：國寶熊貓。
熊貓高高旅居加州聖地牙哥動物園15年，期間繁衍了五隻後代，在保育大熊貓方面堪稱勞苦功高。高高現年26歲，相等於人類80歲高齡，是告老還鄉的時候了。牠會回到毗鄰成都的中國大熊貓保護研究中心都江堰基地安享晚年。
國泰航空不時接載隨主人移居外地的寵物，或是參加賽事的珍貴馬匹，在運送動物方面可說經驗豐富。然而熊貓是國寶級的貴賓，接待方式自然是非同凡響；而對於年事已高的高高來說，這次旅程相當漫長。動物園首先以貨車把高高送到洛杉磯，再 登上國泰貨機，中途停靠阿拉斯加的安克雷奇加油，然後飛往香港，最後前往終點站成都。
高高的隨行團隊括飼養員和動物園的首席獸醫，牠身處的籠子位於飛機的主貨艙，而動物園一行人則安坐於上層的「氣泡」位置，即是747貨機駕駛艙後的六個座位。聖地牙哥動物園高級飼養員Kathy Hawk說：「最重要是可以在航程中照料高高，按時為牠檢查和滿足牠的需要。」
運送動物的成功秘訣，在於讓牠們習慣倉庫內和機上的各種噪音，特別是在停機坪拖行牠的籠子上飛機時，四周引擎的隆然巨響尤其最難應付。
Kathy說：「我們在起程之前先讓牠們熟悉籠子的環境，以及適應鏟車、蜂鳴器和傳呼器等發出的嘈雜聲響，盡可能令牠們在整個旅程上感到舒適自在。」
《Discovery》在香港國際機場的國泰航空貨運站大型動物處理中心迎接高高和牠的護送團隊，當時牠正在這個設備先進的貨運站專區等候轉機前往成都。這次運送旅程非常順利。Kathy補充：「唯一的小問題是當飛機降落時聲音略有不同，令高高有點不安，幸好情況不太嚴重。」
整段旅程中最艱難的，就是最後的道別時刻。「我們與高高建立了深厚的感情，但牠能夠重返故鄉，亦是我們工作中非常有意義的部分。」