Grisella is not an artist with special demands, but an orang-utan lady moving from the zoo in Heidelberg to Tel Aviv in Israel. After the death of her long-term companion, she did not feel comfortable in Heidelberg anymore – pain of separation.
With the help of GK Air team, the 33 year old ape will now start a new period in her life living in sunny Israel. Once she arrives in Hay-Park in Tel Aviv, she will get her easel back since drawing is one of her favourite hobbies.
A special GK Air vehicle with air suspension and air conditioning brought Grisella from Heidelberg to the Animal Lounge in Frankfurt. With the usual professionalism and experience, everything was done to guarantee that the journey would be as pleasant as possible for the orang-utan lady. GK Air took care of everything, from customs declaration to the health certificates.
Orang-utans are part of the great ape family by genus, but they are clearly differentiated by their red-brown coat and their physique since they have adapted more to living in trees. Over the years of having been living in trees their arms and legs have grown to have a stronger build than other apes of the same genus. Their arm span can reach 2.25 meters.
Even Grisella´s who is in her prime at the age of 33. The lifespan of an orang-utan living in a zoo can reach up to sixty years. A Healthy nutrition is definitely one of the reasons. Grisella did not travel without her large fruit basket, filled with apples, bananas, kiwis, fresh branches, as well as salad, carrots, cucumbers, and sunflower seeds.
"Well simply a balanced ape diet, so that the lady has nothing lacking, and of course the journey offers a perfect culinary service including tea,-mind you without sugar", says Kay Wissenbach, managing director of GK Air.
The transport box for the Lufthansa flight has to be as special as the great apes are. The box alone weighs 290 kilograms without freight. The ape only weighs 50 kilograms. Like all orang-utans, Grisella is listed under Cites regulations since orang-utans are a protected species. Therefore, the German Federal Office for Environmental Protection is always involved when such rare species are transported. The orang-utan cannot be exported without document of compliance. There were no problems, everything was o.k., and the documentation was conclusive. To make sure that Grisella did not feel lonely in her new environment at least on her first days, a keeper accompanied her for a few days. This was surely no everyday transport, and proved once again that 43 years of experience in animal transportation are an essential part of a professional and reliable animal consignment, said Kay Wissenbach.
