Endangered Kenyan antelopes rescued after being stranded at Palm Beach airport

Milena Malaver, Miami Herald on Feb 18, 2026

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When Paul Reillo learned the endangered mountain bongo antelopes that he had cared for since birth were stranded in a cargo plane on an airport tarmac ahead of their journey to a new home in Kenya, he took matters into his own hands.

At 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2026, a chartered Boeing 767F carrying eight critically endangered mountain bongo antelopes aborted its departure while taxiing at Palm Beach International Airport after the captain detected a mechanical issue. The animals were en route from South Florida to Kenya as part of a decades-long international effort to rescue the species from extinction.

The animals were born and bred under the care of Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, which is based in Loxahatchee and was founded by Reillo.

After four hours of diagnostics, the aircraft operator, SkyTaxi, determined the plane could not fly. By then, it was after midnight. The bongos — five females and three males — had already been tranquilized and crated for more than 12 hours with no possibility of departure for at least another day.

“Any significant delay or flight cancellation becomes a matter of life or death for the animals,” Reillo said in a press release.

Transporting the animals halfway around the world requires months of preparation and a tightly choreographed schedule. From Palm Beach to a protected sanctuary on Mount Kenya, the journey takes about 30 hours. Any major delay can be catastrophic.

Reillo, who is also a research professor at Florida International University and director of its Tropical Conservation Institute, immediately began assembling a rescue plan with operations manager Matt Morris once the flight was scrubbed.

Before dawn on Sunday, Feb. 8, Reillo and a ground-transport driver arrived at the disabled aircraft and discovered the plane had no power. The cargo door, which operators had said would remain open for ventilation, was closed.

“The cargo area was hot and stuffy,” Reillo said.

The bongos had spent roughly 14 hours on the plane.

“They were exhausted and stressed but successfully returned to their Florida home. One female was in very bad shape, but we managed to treat her and get her on her feet and out with the others,” said Reillo.

By 9 a.m. the next day, all eight bongos were back in their familiar pre-shipment corrals.

“We were able to offload the [animals] onto the flatbed truck, get the truck back to our facility and turn those animals out, all within two and a half hours, which I think is an absolute record,” Reillo told the Miami Herald on Wednesday.

A species on the brink

The mountain bongo is the largest forest antelope in the world and is endemic to Kenya. Decades of poaching, forest degradation and habitat fragmentation have reduced its wild population to fewer than 100 animals, Reillo said.

The eight bongos were supposed to join 17 others that made the journey from Florida to Kenya in February 2025 on a flight sponsored by DHL. Together, the animals are part of a recovery program aimed at restoring the species to its ancestral forests on Mount Kenya.

The sanctuary is managed by the Meru Bongo and Rhino Conservation Trust and represents a collaboration among international conservation groups, local communities and the Kenyan government.

“The bongo recovery program here in Meru, Kenya is our 21st century moment to reverse extinction,” John Kinoti, chairman of the Meru Bongo and Rhino Conservation Trust, said in a statement. “Repatriating the bongos from RSCF to Kenya is a true rebirth and hope for the critically endangered mountain bongo.”

Mike Watson, CEO of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, called the effort “an invaluable step towards preventing extinction in our lifetime.”

Kenya’s Secretary for Tourism, Rebecca Miano, described mountain bongos as “a wildlife treasure” and a symbol of the country’s biodiversity.

A yearlong setback

Because temperature and weather conditions in both Florida and Kenya must align for transport, the window to repatriate another group in 2026 has now closed. The animals from the aborted flight cannot be prepared again for months, Reillo said, making them unsuitable for transport this year.

The bongos were also carefully selected months in advance based on age, health, temperament and breeding history, Reillo said, and range in age from 2 to 4 years.

“The unexpected cancellation has set this project back by a full year,” he said. “And now we have to make space for eight animals who were supposed to already be in Kenya.”

The financial toll is also significant. The Air Charter Services flight cost more than $460,000, which Reillo said had not been refunded as of this week. Additional preparation, veterinary, permitting and logistics costs pushed the total expense well beyond that figure.

Air Charter Service could not be immediately reached for comments.

Despite the setback, Reillo remains resolute.

“In the end, we averted a catastrophe,” he said. “Repatriating wildlife is not for the faint-of-heart— it’s incredibly complex and difficult. And ultimately, saving critical species while we can is the highest calling for all of us.”