The five most remarkable deliveries of 2025

We spend our days moving things across borders, but not everything we handle fits neatly into a box or follows a familiar route. Some shipments ask for unusual expertise, delicate coordination, or creative problem-solving – and those are the ones that tend to stay with us.

This year gave us several of those moments. Here are five stories that show just how varied and surprising our work can be at DHL. 

In February 2025, we moved 17 mountain bongos from a conservation center in Florida to the slopes of Mount Kenya, the species’ original habitat. Fewer than 100 mountain bongos remain in the wild, making every animal on that flight critical to the species’ survival.

We arranged a dedicated aircraft fitted with custom-built crates and kept a veterinarian and two bongo specialists by their side throughout the 13,000-kilometer journey. Watching them settle safely into their new sanctuary in Kenya – a place designed to help them breed and thrive – felt like being part of a homecoming decades in the making. If all goes well, their offspring will one day return to the forests that shaped their species.

Some shipments are rare. This one was truly one-of-a-kind. In March 2025, we carried a helmet from Switzerland across multiple countries so all 20 living Formula 1® world champions could add their signatures. One signature was particularly significant: Michael Schumacher’s. The seven-time world champion has largely withdrawn from public life since his severe skiing accident in 2013, and his initials, “M.S.”, were added to the helmet with the support of his wife, Corinna. 

From there, the journey became a careful relay. Under strict security protocols, we transported the helmet from home to home – including stops in Ibiza, London, and Brasília – before it was showcased as a replica prize to support “Race Against Dementia,” the research charity founded by Sir Jackie Stewart, a three-time Formula 1® world champion who launched the organization after his wife’s dementia diagnosis.

In June 2025, 151 life-sized bear sculptures began a 10,000-kilometer journey from Wustermark near Berlin to Singapore. Known worldwide as the “United Buddy Bears,” each two-meter fiberglass sculpture is painted by an artist from a different country to represent peace, tolerance, and cultural diversity.

Weighing a combined 37 tons, the bears were loaded into eight sea containers using cranes before departing via the Port of Hamburg in Germany. After their ocean crossing, the full collection was displayed in Singapore for two months – a vibrant, global exhibition carried safely across borders.

In November 2025, an unusual passenger boarded one of our flights from Bahrain to East Africa: Saadoon, a young male baboon rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Found abandoned at just three months old in a country where baboons don’t naturally live, Saadoon spent more than a year recovering under the care of an animal welfare organization. When it was finally time for him to move to a natural habitat, a specialized sanctuary near Djibouti City became his new home.

We transported Saadoon using custom boxes, veterinary oversight, and an accompanying welfare representative to reduce stress as much as possible. Today, he shares his environment with a female baboon – a critical step toward social bonding and long-term rehabilitation.

Every year, the CONMEBOL Libertadores Final – South America’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League Final – is one of the most anticipated sporting events on the continent. In November 2025, we delivered its centerpiece.

The trophy’s journey began at CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay, and ended in Lima, Peru, where the final took place on November 29. Standing about one meter tall, the iconic silver trophy traveled in a custom metallic case with security locks and was handled exclusively with gloves to maintain its pristine condition.

Even sealed inside its case, the trophy drew crowds along the route – fans snapped photos, shared videos, and celebrated the moment. And in a dramatic all-Brazilian final, Flamengo defeated Palmeiras to claim the continent’s most coveted club title.