I have read many articles that stowaways face a delicate balance of hypothermia and their body shutting down the need much breathing, thus able to deal with the thin (unpressurized) air. Sometimes it works out in their favor, sometimes not. If they survive they wake up dazed and confused.
The wheel well's on the outside of the pressure hull, while the cargo hold's on the inside, so is pressurised. Or at least so I gather. It may not be heated very well, mind.
Some random searching on the internet shows that the temperature of a cargo hold is about 10°C, and on at least one model of plane is (partially) heated by waste air from the cabins. Allegedly there's a flight deck switch which redirects the waste air overboard, which causes the temperature in the hold to plummet. This is known as the 'puppy snuffer' switch...
This guy was in the unpressurized cargo hold. They didn't touch on how many times they landed along the way, except that the journey from London to Paris was so short he was panicky when the descent began. Then from Paris to Bombay is a bit longer, and Bombay to Perth is 12+ hours. If he were flying at 30,000 feet perhaps hypothermia would have been a concern, though TFA also indicated he'd seen animals shipped in just this way.
I have read many articles that stowaways face a delicate balance of hypothermia and their body shutting down the need much breathing, thus able to deal with the thin (unpressurized) air. Sometimes it works out in their favor, sometimes not. If they survive they wake up dazed and confused.
This story doesn't sound like that. Why?
Here is a kid in a wheel well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2609270/BREAKING-NEW...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wheel-well_stowaway_fli...
Perhaps the boxes are stored in a place where people and animals can easily survive?