This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Australia Post
Since I had children I’ve come to know more about animals than maybe even a zookeeper. None of my children were into cars or trucks, or Barbie - it’s all been about animals. My son especially was one of those kids that could recite every fact about animals, he knew about animals I had never even heard of and collected everything to do with animals. We have those massive folders with sheets of animal facts, we have everything from the zoo and any animal collector cards ever produced.
When he was 13, my son started at the Taronga Zoo YATZ (Youth at the Zoo) volunteer program, and only wrapped up this year to do his HSC. They are all animal mad - meanwhile, I struggle to tell the difference between a cheetah and a leopard (they are exactly the same!).
Recently my daughter and I travelled to Borneo, where we got up close with the orang-utans. Only the week before it was announced that this particular subspecies of orang-utans were now critically endangered. Their population has decreased by 50% in the past 60 years and they have lost over 55% of their habitat in the last 20 years due to logging and hunting. It’s believed there are only 1500 left in the wild.
This October, Australia Post is helping educate kids on endangered wildlife during their annual Stamp Collecting Month.
With every year’s Stamp Collecting Month developed around a different primary school curriculum theme such as history, geography, science, technology and the environment, the program is supported by an online educational resource and includes information and facts on each featured animal as well as lesson ideas, activities and more.
With so many animals on the endangered list it’s important that children understand the risk these animals face and the impact on the environment. This year’s endangered wildlife theme also ties in with the centenary anniversary of Taronga Zoo, which works with a number of conservation and breeding programs to assist threatened species. With over nearly 30 Australian mammal species lost in 200 years, Australia has one of the highest extinction rates in the world. For example, the $1 Southern Corroboree Frog stamp brings awareness to a species that only has around 50 animals living in the wild.
The Stamp Collecting Month ‘Endangered Wildlife’ stamps feature:
- $1 Southern Corroboree Frog
- $1 Snow Leopard
- $1 Asian Elephant
- $1 Western Lowland Gorilla
- $1 Western Swamp Tortoise
- 50c Orange-bellied Parrot
- 50c Northern Quoll
For more information on Stamp Collecting Month, including educational activities, visit: www.auspost.com.au/scm
There are five stamps priced at $1 each and two stamps priced at 50 cents. They are available now at your nearest Australia Post retail outlet or online at www.auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.
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