United Nations adds to Endangered Species series

By David Hartwig

The United Nations Postal Administration continues its Endangered Species series with 12 stamps in an April 25 issue.

Since 1993, the Endangered Species stamp series has represented the need for protection of plants and animals listed on appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Known as CITES, the convention is an international agreement among governments to safeguard trade in specimens of wild animals and plants.

CITES organizes species into three appendices based on levels of protection, with species most endangered listed in Appendix I and species that may become threatened listed in Appendix II. Appendix III lists species that are protected by at least one country which has asked other countries to assist in controlling the trade.

Like previous stamps in this series, the new stamps are issued in panes of 16, each with four se-tenant (side-by-side) designs. There is a separate pane for each U.N. post office.

The four $1.55 stamps for the post office at U.N. headquarters in New York City show the Pterocarpus erinaceus (African rosewood), Python regius (ball python), Spheniscus demersus (African penguin) and Ophrys apifera (bee orchid).

The four 1.90-franc stamps for the post office at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, show Gonopterodendron sarmientoi (Bulnesia sarmientoi), Oxyura leucocephala (white-headed duck), Nardostachys jatamansi (jatamansi) and Hippocampus hippocampus (Short-snouted seahorse).

The €1.50 stamps illustrate Rhodiola rosea (golden root), Agalychnis callidryas (red-eyed treefrog), Hexaprotodon liberiensis (pygmy hippopotamus) and Balearica regulorum (grey-crowned crane). These stamps are for use from the post office at the Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria.

For ordering information for these new Endangered Species stamps and related products, visit the UNPA website; email unpanyinquiries@un.org; telephone 212-963-7684 or 800-234-8672; or write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900.

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