vintage and contemporary postcards and stamps from around the world


13 August 2017

Sunday Stamps II - 139


1995, Belarus, Belovezhski Bison Bonasus

A European Bison in the Belovezhskaya National Park within the Bialowieza Forest (a UNESCO site on the Belarus-Poland border). in 1996, they were declared an 'endangered' species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though that has been upgraded to 'vulnerable'. There are now around 800 in Belarus and the population is growing. The bison in the Bialowieza Forest were protected by the Polish kings with a death penalty for killing any instituted in the mid-16th century. Later, the Russian czars continued to protect them but their numbers still dwindled until there were none left by 1928. Slowly, captive bison from zoos were bred to be reintroduced to the wild with the first pair finally leaving captivity to live in the forest in 1952. The modern day bison bonasus are all descended from only seven animals.

for the letter B - Bison, Belarus

6 comments:

Bob Scotney said...

Well done to pick a Bison from Belarus!

Joy said...

Magnificent creatures, nice to hear a success story.

Heleen said...

So many 'B's in one stamp, great finding!

And thank you for the information, until know I always thought Bisons only were living in the USA. Good to read about them and their protection nowadays in Europe.

Willa @ Postage Journal said...

I also featured Belarus for this letter,but different stamp. :)

FinnBadger said...

I love all the Bs you managed to cover in your post today. A very handsome stamp.

Unknown said...

You have shared the Postal Stamps , it's really wonderful. And actually I like your Postal Stamps very much.

Pincodezone