TAAG Angola Airlines flies live lions from South Africa to Nigeria

TAAG Angola Airlines has released details of a cargo flight that carried two adult lions from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this month. The airline said the animals, each weighing around 200 kilograms, travelled aboard a Boeing 737-800 freighter operated by its cargo arm, TAAG Cargo.

The lions passed through Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport in Luanda, the carrier's hub, on their way to Lagos. According to TAAG, they had been under the care of wildlife specialists in South Africa and were being sent to a zoological facility in Nigeria, where they will be kept in a controlled environment.

TAAG Cargo runs scheduled freight services across Africa, including routes linking Luanda with Lagos, Brazzaville, Abidjan, Accra, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Lusaka. The airline pointed to the lion shipment as an example of the specialised freight operations its Luanda cargo facilities can handle. Those facilities opened in late 2023 and are meant to work as a trans-shipment point for high-value and unusual cargo.

The carrier operates two dedicated freighters. One, a Boeing 737-700QC, is listed as inactive by fleet tracking service ch-aviation. The other, a Boeing 737-800BCF, was used for the lion transport, according to TAAG, and also serves as its main freighter for general cargo across the continent.

TAAG did not disclose further details about the commercial arrangements behind the shipment. Nor did it specify the regulatory approvals required for transporting live wildlife by air, beyond noting that such operations carry particular operational requirements.