It's Alive

Chick Packaging Built Crates for Transporting Some of the First Pandas Brought Into North America.

Chick Packaging truly has experience in packaging anything. In 2000, with only a few weeks of lead-time, FedEx contacted Chick to design and build the transport containers for two giant pandas being shipped from the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

Customer Situation Chick Solution
  • Long term freight forwarder needed fast design and fabrication of containers for live animals.
  • Two steel containers that met all requirements of National Zoo and safely protected the pandas, within the timeframe allowed.


Using very specific requirements set forth by the National Zoo, Chick worked with the zoo curator, Lisa Stevens, on the design and fabrication of two 1,100 pound steel containers to house Mei Xiang, a two-year-old female and Tian Tian, a three-year-old male on their around the world journey. Each of the cages featured grills on the sides to allow for air movement but engineered to ensure a panda’s claws could not get stuck. Each cage had a ¾ inch pipe interior door and two 1/8 inch thick sheet metal exterior doors on the ends, which were capable of sliding up and down. Additional features included removable stainless-steel trays for food and water and two-inch-deep stainless-steel pans fitted beneath the cages for easy removal of waste. Due to their size, the containers also featured removable casters with fixed front wheels and swiveling back wheels.

Despite their size, pandas are very sensitive, so to further ensure the protection of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the containers were carefully sanded and buffed both inside and out to eliminate sharp edges and guarantee smooth surfaces. Lastly, it was essential that the bright white paint used to paint the containers be non-toxic. After being fully fabricated, both of the crates were shipped to the Conservation Center in Wolong, in the Sichuan Province of China, where the pandas were given time to adapt to the containers prior to the 17 hour flight ahead of them.

Departing from Chengdu on December 6, 2000, the pandas and a crew of 7 American and Chinese veterinarians flew eastward on FedEx’s “PandaOne” plane to the FedEx facility in Anchorage, Alaska for refueling and a crew change, and then continued to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, the pandas were on their way to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park in the containers that Chick had fabricated.

Chick’s expertise and quick turnaround time ensured that FedEx could transport Mei Xiang and Tian Tian from Asia to the National Zoo in Washington DC within their window of opportunity. The pandas are now the proud parents of panda cub named Tai Shan, who is also housed in the National Zoo. Chick’s crates are still being used to this day for the transportation of some of the National Zoo’s other animals.

In addition, this project gave Chick the opportunity to give back as we were able to donate a substantial amount of the proceeds to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. FedEx, Animal Planet, and Fujifilm also heavily sponsored this move.
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