Mounted or dipped and packed? Shipping your trophies home from South Africa

After the hunt, one of the first questions your outfitter or PH will ask is whether you want your trophies mounted here in South Africa, or dipped and packed and sent home for your own taxidermist to finish. Both are common, and we ship both. The choice affects what goes into the crate, how much it weighs and how big it is, and that is what drives your shipping cost.

What “mounted” means

Your trophies are finished by a South African taxidermist: shoulder mounts, full mounts, European (skull) mounts, rugs and so on. When the work is done, we either build custom crates at the taxidermist’s premises or collect the crates the taxidermist has built, and bring them to our warehouse in Benoni for check-in.

What “dipped and packed” means

Dip and pack means the trophies are treated and prepared for export, but not mounted. The skins, skulls and horns are cleaned and treated by the dip-and-pack facility or taxidermist and then packed for shipping, so that a taxidermist in your own country can do the mounting.

Please note: Zingela is not a dip-and-pack facility. We collect dipped and packed consignments from the taxidermist or facility anywhere in South Africa, crate them where needed, handle the export permits and customs clearing, and ship them to you.

How each option affects your shipping cost

Air freight, ocean freight and crating are all charged on the chargeable weight: the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (length × width × height in centimetres ÷ 6,000). Mounted trophies are often light but bulky, so the volumetric weight is usually the higher one. A shoulder mount needs a large crate even though the mount itself doesn’t weigh much.

Dipped and packed trophies usually pack into much smaller crates, so the chargeable weight, and the freight, is usually lower. The trade-off is that you then pay your own taxidermist at home to do the mounting.

Example: a crate of 120 × 80 × 70 cm that weighs 45 kg has a volumetric weight of 112 kg (672,000 cm³ ÷ 6,000), so it is charged as 112 kg. That is typical for a mounted trophy. See How pricing works for more detail.

Air or ocean freight?

• Air freight leaves from OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, for your nearest designated wildlife port of entry in the USA, or other destinations our carrier airlines fly to. Once the paperwork is ready, air freight usually takes about 2 weeks.
• Ocean freight is a full container of trophies only, with no general cargo, to Houston (USA) or Hamburg (Germany). It usually works out cheaper for large or heavy consignments, such as full mounts or several crates, and takes about 6 weeks once the paperwork is ready.

Permits are needed either way

Mounted or dipped and packed, your trophies need the right export paperwork. We handle the TOPS, CITES, veterinary and provincial transport and export permits needed to move your trophies from the taxidermist to our warehouse and to export them. Permits usually take 3–4 weeks, depending on the government departments involved. For CITES-listed species you will usually need a CITES import permit from your own country first, so apply early. Read how trophy export works for the full list of documents.

Whether dipped and packed or mounted, trophies are subject to veterinary and wildlife inspection on arrival — in the US, for example, by USDA and US Fish & Wildlife. Requirements differ by country and change over time, so your broker confirms the import requirements before shipping, and we prepare the export documents to match.

Why mount in South Africa?

South African taxidermists work with African animals every day and know them intimately — much as US taxidermists know bison and moose best. That local familiarity often means a better chance of a good mount for African species. South African taxidermy is also, by and large, more affordable than having the same work done abroad. If you already have a taxidermist at home you trust, dipped and packed remains a solid option.

Which should you choose?

• Choose mounted if you want to use a South African taxidermist and receive finished work.
• Choose dipped and packed if you have a taxidermist at home you want to use, or you want smaller crates and a lower shipping cost.

Not sure? Tell us what you hunted and where it needs to go, and we’ll send you an estimate for either option.

Get an estimate · Call +27 11 395 1855 (Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00) · Taxidermist or outfitter? Use Partner login for the Partner Estimator.

Any figure you receive before check-in is an estimate. Your formal quote follows once your crates have been measured and weighed at our warehouse.