Title: The Irish Horse
Date of Issue: 1 September 2011
Country: Ireland
Denominations: 55c x 4

Source: http://www.irishstamps.ie/

The species featured on these stamps are; the Beadlet Anemone, the Squat Lobster, the Cuckoo Wrasse and the Common Frog.

Most anemones cannot survive out of water, but the Beadlet Anemone can do so, provided it stays damp. At low tide, this anemone can be found on rocky shores with its tentacles retracted, looking like a blob of red or green jelly.

Squat Lobsters are decapod crustaceans of the families Galatheidae, Chirostylidae and Kiwaidae, including the common genera Galathea and Munida and there are about 870 known species. They are not true lobsters but rather more closely related to hermit crabs and porcelain crabs.

The Cuckoo Wrasse is undoubtedly the most spectacularly coloured fish found in Irish waters. They are strong swimmers and like to wedge themselves into rock crevices to foil a sea angler. Cuckoo Wrasse live off mussels and other shellfish.

The Common Frog is found in countryside and urban garden ponds and in a range of habitats from lowland farmland to mountain bog and forestry plantations.

The species featured on these stamps are; the Green Huntsman, the Elephant Hawk-moth, the Goldfinch and the Red Deer.

The Green Huntsman spider is of the family Sparassidae. It does not build a web, and hunts insects in green vegetation, where it is well camouflaged. Many huntsman spiders have rather flattened bodies adapted for living in narrow spaces under loose bark or rock crevices.

The Elephant Hawk-moth has many fascinating features including its size and its captivating vibrant pink colour. It lives in woodland clearings, in gardens, and around waste grounds, but is often found in flower gardens, usually feeding near fuchsias.

The Goldfinch is one of Ireland’s most widespread garden birds. It is brightly-coloured and has become a familiar sight at garden nut feeders in recent years.

The Red Deer has a rich red coloured coat, darkening down to a greyish brown in winter. A mature stag carries a large rack of antlers, which are at peak condition in the early autumn for the rut, when they are used for bouts of sparring between rivals.

Title: Irish Animals & Marine Life
Date of Issue: 21 July 2011
Country: Ireland
Denominations: 55c x 8

Source: www.irishstamps.ie

The Bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a nocturnal marsupial with distinctive rabbit-like ears, greyish fur and a beautiful bushy black tail with a white tip. It survives on a diet of seeds, grubs, bulbs, fruit and insects. Bilby babies stay in the pouch for about 80 days.

The Dingo (Canis lupus dingo) is Australia’s native dog. It is typically ginger in colour although some dingos are black and tan. While the young pups stay with their mother while learning the art of hunting, they usually live in packs which help rear them. Unlike other dogs it does not bark.

The Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a shy, small gliding possum found in the forests and woodlands of eastern and southern Australia. It has a membrane extending from its fifth finger to its ankle enabling it to glide between trees using its long bushy tail for stability and steering.

The Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is probably the most recognizable of all Australian marsupials and the red kangaroo is found on the Australian coat of arms. There are over 60 different species of kangaroo and they live in all areas of Australia. Essentially nocturnal herbivores, kangaroos eat grasses, leaves, fungi and the shoots of small trees and need very little water to survive.

The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is one of Australia’s best known and most loved animals. A mammal not a bear, the koala is found from northern Queensland to southern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, although habitat destruction through residential development and farming has significantly reduced its distribution. Koalas spend most of their time in eucalypt trees sleeping and feeding.

Title: Australian Bush Babies
Date of Issue: 1 July 2011
Country: Australia
Denominations: 60c, $1.60, $1.65, $2.35, $4.70

Source: www.auspost.com.au

Title: Lithuanian Zoo
Date of Issue: 21 May 2011
Country: Lithuania
Denominations:
4 Lt – Giraffe.
4 Lt – Pelican.
4 Lt – Electric blue Jack Dempsey fish.
4 Lt – Polar bear.

Source: www.post.lt

As the scientific name indicates it has spread throughout Europe and is absent only in northern parts of Scandinavia. The European hare is the biggest species of the genus Lepus, weighing from four to five (up to 7.4) kilograms and bearing one to six (seven) well-developed offspring, whom it suckles for about one month.

The number of those small game animals has fallen throughout Europe during the past half-century. The reasons are varied, starting from numerous carnivores, birds of prey, extensive agriculture and its chemisation to viral diseases. As late as in the 1960s more than 10,000 European hares were hunted and more than 100,000 of them were counted in Estonia. At the beginning of the 21st century hardly 1,000 animals a year are shot. No counts are being carried out at present, but the number of European brown hares is assessed at slightly above 20,000.

Title: European Brown Hare
Date of Issue: 19 May 2011
Country: Estonia
Denominations: 0.35

Source: www.post.ee

Cats have lived around people for many thousands of years, and are the world’s most popular pets. They’re also the most popular pets on the Faroes. One reason that cats are so popular is that they fit in readily with a modern lifestyle. Cats don’t need much care, can be left on their own, and pretty much look after themselves.

A cat sat on the widow sill watching something or other with its large almond-shaped eyes for hours at a time is a familiar image. Cat owners have often speculated as to what the cat finds so interesting and what it is that only it can see outside. Puss in Boots is surely also a tale that’s familiar to many. By using his cunning, Puss in Boots does no less for his poor owner than help him to the kingdom and the princess’ hand.

The Faroese domestic cat is a small animal that is little different to wild cats. It’s happiest when eating, sleeping and playing. It can stand high temperatures, loves the sun and the night and is clean and agile, which it is why it is said that it always lands on its feet. The domestic cat is a mixed race. Its hair is short and often features several patterns and colours – normally including white. The most common colouration is black and white, although tabby cats and brown cats are also common. Plus, they can be any thing from one colour to many or be striped. The majority of pure-bred cats on the Faroes are long-haired, such as the Norwegian Forest Cat, Birman, Maine Coon and Persian.

Title: Cats – Faroe Islands
Date of Issue: 21 February 2011
Country: Faroe Islands
Denominations: 6,00 og 10,00 DKK

Source: www.stamps.fo

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45p
This vervet monkey from Africa may have been bought to South Georgia on a ship coming from Cape Town. It was a pet of the doctor at the Husvik whaling station in 1914. It wore a harness and was taken for walks on a lead.

60p
Anne-Marie Sørlle, daughter of the manager of the Stromness whaling station, with a litter of puppies. She was allowed to keep one as a pet because there were no other children on South Georgia for her to play with.

70p
Two whalers show off their pets in their room at Grytviken around 1925. The man on the right has a fox which is being restrained by a collar and chain. This is a unique record of a fox being kept as a pet on the island. It is probably a grey fox or grey zorro, which could have been acquired in a South American port.

95p
Nan Brown ran a ‘penguin rehabilitation centre’ at King Edward Point to rescue birds fouled with heavy fuel oil. After cleaning they were kept in a pen to recover. One of the gentoo penguins became a pet when it refused to leave after being released. Stugie (an anagram of Gutsie) had a damaged wing and could not fend for itself. It accompanied Nan around the settlement and visited the house daily but, not being house-trained, it was not allowed to stay inside for long. It would follow her to the jetty where she caught fish to feed its prodigious appetite.

£1.15
The inappropriately named Mrs Chippy is the most famous of Antarctic cats. He was the pet of ‘Chippy’ McNish, the carpenter on Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, and perished on the ice after the ship had been crushed.

Semi-wild cats were common at the whaling stations. They were mostly dependent on human habitation, especially in winter, and were useful in helping keep down the rats that infested the buildings. Cats died out at the whaling stations soon after they were abandoned in the 1960s but some survived at the King Edward Point settlement until 1980.

£1.20
Sir Ernest Shackleton baths Query aboard Quest on the way to South Georgia in 1922. The German shepherd pup had been presented to him as a mascot when the ship visited Plymouth. Query was lost overboard during the expedition.

Dogs, including sledge dogs left by passing expeditions, were a common sight around the whaling stations. Most were under the control of their owners but a few lived and bred wild. The last dog on South Georgia died in 1974.

Title: Pets – South Georgia
Date of Issue: 15 February 2011
Country: South Georgia
Denominations: 45p, 60p, 70p, 95p, £1.15, £1.20

Source: www.falklandstamps.com

Source: www.shop.vpost.com.sg

Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) is a large seal which is common on both sides of the Atlantic. It is one of two species of seals that bear pups in Iceland – the other being the harbor seal. Grey seals are double thre size of harbor seals. The male can reach a length of 3 meters and wiegh up to 300 kilos. The females are grey-coloured with dark spots on their coat while the bull is almost uniformly dark. Eyes and ears are high up on the head so that the seal can look around without raising its head high above sea level.

Title: Seals II – Island
Date of Issue: 27 January 2011
Country: Island
Denominations: 100g, 50g (90, 220 ISK)

Source: www.postur.is

Along with all of the other earless seals, it belongs to the family Phocidae, and is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. The name hydrurga means “water worker” and leptonyx is the Greek for “small clawed”.

Title: Antarctic – Leopard seal
Date of Issue: 7 January 2011
Country: Bulgaria
Denominations: 0.58 Leva

Source: http://www.daits.government.bg/