The 100th Anniversary of Moscow Zoo, USSR

Another Z day and another ZOO post. Just as last time, so I really need to dig in a bit better for the next round of Z and find something different.
I do really like though this set of USSR stamps issued on 18th June 1964, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Moscow ZOO, which had an area of 10 hectares when it first opened, with 286 animals while nowadays it has over 6500 animals representing about 1000 species and covers an area of about 21.5 hectares.

Unlike the Animal Cubs from the Budapest Zoo featured in the previous entry, these animals don't come with names. However, the animals shown on these stamps are:

- The Asian elephant, the only living species of the genus Elephas, distributed in Southeast Asia, from India and Nepal in the west to Borneo in the south, enlisted as endangered since 1986.

- The giant panda, the adorable bear native to south central China. It is easily recognized by the large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body.

-  The Polar Bear, whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. (The total number of Polar Bears left in the world is 20,000 to 25,000)

- The moose (North America) or elk (Eurasia), which is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the largest and heaviest extant species in the Deer family. Moose are distinguished by the broad, palmate (open-hand shaped) antlers of the males, and they usually inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Unfortunately, here we have another case where hunting and other human activities have caused a reduction in the size of the moose's range over time.

-  The great white pelican, which breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. It has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Specie.

- The Bengal tiger, which is the most numerous tiger subspecies in Asia, and was estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals by 2011. Since 2008, it is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by poaching, loss and fragmentation of habitat. None of the Tiger Conservation Landscapes within its range is considered large enough to support an effective population of more than 250 adult individual.

- The bearded vulture, the only member of the genus Gypaetus. and the only known animal whose diet consists almost exclusively (70 to 90 percent) of bone. It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter that hatch at the beginning of spring.
Populations are resident but unfortunately continue to decline. Until July 2014, it was classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being of Least Concern; it has, however, since been reassessed as Near Threatened.

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I am not fond of zoos, even though I may be really fascinated at how some of them are structured and maintained and all. However, I strongly believe animals should live in their natural habitats and not be confined to living in ZOOs for the sake of people's entertainment (and education).


So that would wrap up another round of the ABC edition of Sunday Stamps. For more Z-entries, check out today's episode of Sunday Stamps.

Animal Cubs, Hungary

For the previous Y, I went with stamps from Yugoslavia and that one is more or less like a very safe bet for me, having an abundant amount of stamps from there.
And in order not to be repetitive and kinda predictable, I won't be exploiting the easiest solution, but will show this very cute FDC instead.

Issued by Magyar Posta on 4th March 2014, this FDC contains twelve animal cubs, residents of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden - animal cubs, or for the purpose of this post, Young animals :)

The cutest thing is that all these young residents have come on the stamps with their own names, so here you have the chance to meet:
- Sempala the giraffe,
- Sid the two-toed sloth,
- Jakab the Barbary sheep,
- Moira the orang-utan,
- Bangita the blackbuck,
- Maszat the prairie dog,
- Mazsola the ground cuscus,
- Rozi the meerkat,
- Gizmó the ring-tailed lemur,
- Skipper the African penguin,
- Kiran the Asiatic lion and
-Willo the common wombat.


In the upper and lower margin of the stamps the gender, name, species name and date of birth of each of the cubs are indicated, and their original habitat is written and shown in the map in the rand part of the sheet.

I had the chance to visit the Budapest zoo years ago, and it is definitely one of the most beautiful zoos I've been to (though in general I cannot say I've been to many, but still).

Ok, these youngsters are not so young nowadays since 4 years had passed since the stamps have been issued, but they are still young for my Y contribution today :)

For more Ys, hop over to the Sunday Stamps blog and its latest edition.

The First Ascent of Lhotse by Tomo Česen, Yugoslavia

And here comes the so much dreaded letter X for the Sunday Stampers (ok, Ill speak on my behalf only), or Scrabblers... though the latter can be really rewarding with points if you nail it :) (Speaking of it, I'm kinda terrible at Scrabble... for some reason I just never think of the good words at the time of playing, even though it ends up the best word choice was something pretty easy and common).

Now, for today's edition, I kinda cheated with the X...

Namely, I chose this FDC issued on 24 April 1991 by the Yugoslav Post. commemorating the Slovenian Alpinist Tomo Česen, who had climbed the first solo ascent of South Face of Lhotse (which happened exactly a year earlier), the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres. It is part of the Everest massif, and of course part of the Himalayan mountain range. And here comes the catch... namely the Latin letter "H" is transcribed as "X" in the Cyrillic alphabet, the word Himalayas in part of the languages used in Ex-Yugoslavia is "Хималаи", so there you go, it is an X in some way :) Plus, the issuing country does not exist any longer and is now referred to as eX-Yugoslavia, so there is another X :P

Funny thing though, when I googled for this Tomo guy, the third result given by google included the word controversy... so this is where this post got really interesting for me.
Turns out that the Soviet Himalayan expedition later claimed that his ascent would be impossible (don't know why exactly).
He said he had climbed the mountain in 46 hours  and was awarded sponsorship contracts, $10,000 in cash and a national medal. But soon his climb was debunked... probably AFTER this stamp had been issued, otherwise, that would just add to the controversy.

Oh well, he had his hours of fame.

So if you are intrigued to see more X-related posts, simply visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps.

Whales of the Southern Ocean, Ross Dependency

I was a bit indecisive about today's post since I had two super duper things on the menu, but in the end I opted for this one, and decided to leave the other for a different letter in the third round since there will be a third ABC round after all... Yay!!

So today W is for their majesty, the Whales!

I do like whales actually and don't find them as intimidating as sharks, though that might be because I haven't encountered one in real life yet :D
This post today shows a number of Whales issued by the Ross Dependency, and I believe  that first I should say a word or two about this issuing entity before I move on to the whales.

Ross Dependency stamps have been issued by New Zealand postal authorities for use on mail from Scott Base since 1957. This post office was closed in 1987 as part of the rationalisation of New Zealand Post, for later, New Zealand Post to resume the issue of stamps inscribed “Ross Dependency” in 1994, “due to local and international demand.
The denominations match those of contemporary New Zealand stamps but these stamps are not generally valid on New Zealand mail. Mail from the Ross Dependency is processed by the “Ross Dependency Agency”, located at a post office in Christchurch where people can post items bearing Ross Dependency stamps. Mail is canceled with the inscription “Ross Dependency Agency, Christchurch.
The general rule is that there is just one issue per year, and this issue here is the one that was chosen in 2010.
It consists of 5 stamps on a mini-sheet, featuring:

- 60c - the Sperm Whale / Physeter macrocephalus - the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator

- $1.20 - the Minke Whale / Balaenoptera Acutorostrata - It is the smallest member of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Although first ignored by whalers due to its small size and low oil yield, it began to be exploited by various countries beginning in the early 20th century. As other species declined, larger numbers of common minke whales were caught, largely for their meat. It is now one of the primary targets of the whaling industry. (unfortunately =/)

- $1.90 - the Sei Whale / Balaenoptera Borealis - a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in temperate and subtropical waters, with a lifespan of 70 years.

- $2.40 - the Killer Whale / Orcinus Orca - ok, this is like the most famous whale out there thanks to movies and stuff. It is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. These whales are considered to be highly social. (unlike me :D)

- $2.90 - the Humpback Whale / Megaptera Novaeangliae - a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species that has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song lasting 10 to 20 minutes, which they repeat for hours at a time. Its purpose is not clear, though it may have a role in mating.

So that would be all from the whale world today. For other interesting W-related stamps, you know what to do :)

Bridges and Viaducts, Croatia

Going with the Viaducts for the letter V today, the choice for Croatia is totally unintentional but kinda suited prior today's World Cup Final, where Croatia and France shall fight the battle for the throne... my support certainly goes out to Croatia, which has been one of the greatest positive surprises in the event.

So cheers to that with the following two FDC's issued by Croatian Post in 2017 and 2013, respectively.

The first FDC shows the Kosinj Bridge, Limska Draga Viaduct on a Souvenir sheet.

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley, dry or wetland, or forming an overpass or flyover. The term  is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere, to lead. The ancient Romans did not use the term; it is a nineteenth-century derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal length.
Known as the Limska Draga Viaduct, Croatia’s highest bridge crosses a wide valley on the Buje-Vodnjan highway between Medaki and Kanfana - consists of a large steel box girder spanning several tall reinforced concrete piers, one which rises 120 mtrs in height.
The works began in 1986, and completed after 30 months of construction when it was opened for traffic in June 1991.



 The second FDC shows the old bridge at Torunj and the Railway bridge in Zagreb (also known as the Green bridge).

for more interesting posts of the interesting letter V, simply visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps :)

London Underground, United KIngdom

Good Sunday to all! This is gonna be a scheduled post since I will be away for the weekend, but I hope it turns out fine.

U may seem like a tricky letter when it comes to stamps but it surely isn't as near as tricky and challenging as X, to which we shall come very soon indeed :D

While the subject may not be something spectacular, still I really love these two FDCs issued by Royal Mail, celebrating 150 years of the London Underground... wow, it is quite unimaginable to me that back in 1863 something as an underground had been a means of transport. (it is the first Underground in the world).

The stamps were issued on 9th January 2013 which marks the exact date of the opening of the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington Station and Farringdon Street – the first part of what was to become the London Underground.

The first FDC bears six stamps, showing the timeline of the development of the London Underground, ranging from the first steam driven Metropolitan Line service through to a striking image of Canary Wharf, the most modern Jubilee Line station.

2nd class stamp - Metropolitan Railway opens
2nd class stamp - Tunneling below London streets
1st class stamp - Commute from the suburbs
1st class stamp - Boston Manor Art Deco Station
£1.28 stamp - Classic Rolling Stock
£1.28 stamp - Jubilee Line at  Canary Wharf

The second FDC features a four stamp miniature sheet focusing on the design heritage of London Underground posters.

The pictorial poster was a distinctive and highly effective medium for promoting all aspects of the London Underground and later London Transport.The visual images brought modern art and design to a huge audience and many of the artists commissioned were influenced by the avant-garde European art movements of the early 20th century.
This brought Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism to the general public of Britain and the four stamps have three classic London Underground posters on each.

Btw, I have taken the London Underground.....quite some long time ago. That was my first experience with this means of transport...but I found it super cool, esp. since, you know, coming from a city with less than 1.000.000 inhabitants, where you are used to riding on buses only - something like an Underground is quite an experience... esp. once you figure out how it works and can make it on your own, and be able to get simply anywhere in London.


 Check out the other cool U-topics on the Sunday Stamps blog.

The 100th Anniversary of the Titanic disaster

Letter T is very tempting for Trains lets say, but trying to be not so transparent and predictable, I will go with some Titanic stamps today, all issued in 2012, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of its sinking.

First is a cover from Canada, showing two of the four stamps that are part of the block showing the bow of the ship, as well as an international stamp, showing its side-view. These stamps were issued on 4th of April.

Even though many countries commemorated this anniversary on stamps, Canadians were among those personally involved with the world's most famous ocean disaster. In addition to a number of Canadians aboard, and the tireless efforts of the people of Halifax, it was a team of employees working at the Canadian Marconi company's wireless station on Cape Race, Newfoundland, who heard the early distress call.

Next we have the FDC issued by the BH post, on 29th of May.
No extra information regarding this stamp, but anyway, it is not like any extra info is necessary on this world-wide known tragedy.

then we have this FDC from Alderney, issued on 22 February, featuring 6 striking stamps. During its journey, Titanic had sailed past Alderney as well.
The story behind the six stamps is:

36p. - Leaving Southampton
47p. - Sailing past Alderney
48p. - The Grand Staircase
52p. - Orchestra plays the final rune
61p. - Captain Edward J. Smith
65p. - Lifeboats leave the ship

And just as it had caught me by surprise that I had never posted Titanic stamps before here, I was also surprised to see I have this FDC in my collection, issued by Macedonia Post on 17th April. The reason is cos I simply don't know why I would have bought this for myself, taking into account it is a bit pricey, and not as part of my collectibles. But I guess this was during the times I was just splurging on stamps (un)necessarily. Oh well :D

I have this gut feeling that I may be overlooking some other Titanic related FDCs or covers from my collection, but I guess these four will do for now.

For more T-related stamps, simply visit the Sunday Stamps blog.