3154) World Nature Reserves and National Parks Day, Romania: Romfilatelia (Romanian Post) has issued a set of four stamps of 2, 3, 6 and 25 Lei featuring the Wisent: Date of Stamp set issue: 11.01.2024:
About World Nature Reserves Day:
A new issue of postage stamps, with fauna as subject, is developed by Romfilatelia and has been introduced into circulation on the occasion of the “World Nature Reserves and National Parks Day”, on Thursday, January 11th, this year.
It is the first day of the world’s ecological calendar, chosen at the initiative of several environmental organizations to mark the 84th anniversary of the establishment of the Barguzinsky Nature Reserve in 1997.
In May 1927, the first two nature reserves were established in Romania, in the area of Dobrogea.
Protected areas and community conservation areas are a way to directly contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and nature in general.
About the Wisent (or European Bison):
The European bison (Bison bonasus) or the European Wood Bison, also known as the Wisent, is a European species of bison.
The wisent or European bison is part of the category of ruminants, belonging to the Bovidae family, widespread in the past in the regions of the northern hemisphere.
It has a length of 2.9-3 meters and a height of approx. 1.9 meters, weighing from 300 to 930 kg. It is taller than its close relative the American bison. It is a herbivorous animal.
It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American Bison.
The European Bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants.
During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, Bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains.
During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction in the wild.
Besides humans, Bison have few predators. In the 19th century, there were scattered reports of wolves, lions, tigers, and bears hunting bison.
In the past, especially during the Middle Ages, humans commonly killed bison for their hide and meat. They used their horns to make drinking horns.
European bison were hunted to extinction in the wild in the early 20th century, with the last wild animals of the B. b. bonasus subspecies being shot in the Białowieża Forest (on today's Belarus–Poland border) in 1921.
The last of the Caucasian wisent subspecies (B. b. caucasicus) was shot in the northwestern Caucasus in 1927. The Carpathian wisent (B. b. hungarorum) had been hunted to extinction by 1852.
Reintroduction & Conservation efforts:
The Białowieża (or lowland European Bison) was kept alive in captivity, and has since been reintroduced into several countries in Europe.
In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the European bison as an endangered species, no longer extinct in the wild. Its status has improved since then, changing to vulnerable (V) and later to near-threatened (NT).
The Wisent is the largest land mammal in Europe, once present throughout the continent except for Spain, Italy and northern Scandinavia.
In Romania:
In Romania, wild wisents are found in the Vânători Neamț Nature Park, the Țarcu Mountains and the Făgăraș Mountains. Although out of the category of vulnerable species, wisents are in great need of interventions for conservation.
Wisents were introduced to Romania in 1958 when the first two specimens were brought from Poland and kept in a reserve in Hațeg.
The idea of free-ranging wisent in Romania materialized in 1999, through a programme supported by the World Bank and the European Union.
The species – now numbering several thousand and returned to the wild by captive breeding programmes – is no longer in immediate danger of extinction, but remains absent from most of its historical range.
It is not to be confused with the Aurochs (Bos primigenius), the extinct ancestor of domestic cattle, with which it once co-existed.
The European bison is one of the national animals of Poland and Belarus.
Romania presently has more than 900 nature reserves and nature monuments. Of these, Romsilva manages 22 national and nature parks, and over 190 nature reserves and nature monuments.
The postage stamps of the World Nature Reserves Day issue show in their images the wisent belonging to the species - Bison bonasus, found in Europe.
The Postage stamps:
The images of the postage stamps with the face values of Lei 2, 3, 6 and 25 show wisents in various poses captured in a free-range state in the Vânători Neamț Reserve, and the illustrated border of the minisheets reproduce unique images of the landscape of the territory where they live.
A Souvenir Sheet (SS) of four stamps and a coupon/label of the four variants.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 11.01.2024
Designer: George Ursachi
Process:
Printing system: offset, in 4 colours (CMYK),
Paper for stamps: gummed,
Produced by: Tullis Russel (UK origin),
Purchased by: The Stamp Factory,
Weight: 112 ± 4% g/m2
Size(s):
Stamp size: 48.00 mm x 33.00 mm,
Minisheets sizes: 154.00 mm × 100.00 mm
Stamp Values: 2.00 Lei, 3.00 Lei, 6.00 Lei, 25.00 Lei
Links to Posts on "European Year of Rail":
17) Institute of Speleology (Study of Caves) "Emil Racovita", Romania: A Century of Research (1920-2020): A set of four stamps issued by Romfilatelia (Romanian Post) featuring representative images of Caves of Romania which are of great importance for Speleological Research & Activity: Date of Stamp set issue: 18.06.2020
Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very interesting and informative post 👍👍"
Thank you so much, Trikha sahab.
DeleteRaj Kumar Srivastava has commented:
ReplyDelete"Great 👍🏻"
Thank you Raj.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"A VERY informative and interesting post. Thanks for sharing."
Thank you so much Khanna sahab.
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