Wild Life Conservation - Stamps

Common Name: Polar bear Ours blanc; ours polaire (Fr); Oso polar (Sp)
Scientific Name: Ursus maritimus
Habitat: Arctic
Location: Arctic (northern hemisphere)
Biogeographic realm: Nearctic and Palearctic

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Status
With 20-25,000 polar bears living in the wild, the species is not currently endangered, but its future is far from certain. In 1973, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway and the former U.S.S.R. signed the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitat. This agreement restricts the hunting of polar bears and directs each nation to protect their habitats, but it does not protect the bears against the biggest man-made threat to their survival: climate change. If current warming trends continue unabated, scientists believe that polar bears will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century. WWF provides funding to field research by the world's foremost experts on polar bears to find out how climate change will affect the long-term status of polar bears. To learn more about the topic, read the WWF report Vanishing Kingdom: The Melting Realm of the Polar Bear . WWF's report, Polar Bears at Risk, provides a more detailed analysis.(http://www.worldwildlife.org/)

MEASUREMENTS: The California Condor has a body length of 43 - 52 inches, a wingspan up to 9 1/2 feet, and weighs 18 - 23 pounds.

HABITAT: As recently as the early 1800s, the California Condor occupied mountains along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to northern Baja California. By the mid-twentieth century, the population declined to a small population in south-central California. Through captive breeding, California Condors have been reintroduced to the coastal mountains of south-central California and the Grand Canyon area of northern Arizona. Condors prefer mountains, gorges, and hillsides, which create updrafts, thus providing favorable soaring conditions.

DIET: The California Condor’s diet consists of medium and large-sized dead mammals like cattle, sheep, deer, and horses in any state of decay. Condors may travel several hundred miles in search of food.

REPRODUCTION: Condors nest in a cave or cleft among boulders on a cliff or hillside. The female will lay the single egg directly on the floor of the cave. The egg is incubated for 54 - 58 days. (http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/vultures/cacondor.html)

The American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) is one of the largest reptiles. The length of adult alligators varies from 13 to 18 feet. The tail accounts for about half of its length. They can weigh from about 450 to 500 pounds.

The American alligator is usually a solitary animal. Their diet consists of whatever they can catch. Babies feed on insects, shrimp, tadpoles, frogs and fish, while adults will eat turtles, fish, raccoons, birds, and dead animals. The American alligator is found in the warm wetlands and swamps of the Southeastern United States (Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama).



In the morning, alligators will come on to the land, basking in the suns rays. As midday approaches and the sun becomes stronger, they tend to retreat back to the water. The alligator does this because it is a reptile, and it has to control its body temperature using its external environment.

The American alligator is one of the most vocal species of reptiles. Its call is like the roar of a lion. Alligators grumble or roar when they are aggravated.
(http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/gator.html)

The Wild Trout Conservation Award is an annual award run by the Wild Trout Trust that recognises and encourages excellence in the growing field of wild trout habitat management and conservation, and celebrates the efforts, ingenuity and imagination of those involved.





In arriving at their decisions, the judges mark each project in ten categories:

conservation value; appropriateness of the scheme for the site; funding and value for money; techniques used; impact on wild trout; sustainability; local involvement; ease of access and management.


The competition, the first of its kind for wild trout conservation, is open to entry from individuals or organisations. Entrants will be expected to demonstrate to an independent panel of judges how a project or management programme has benefited the wild trout and its environment on river, lake, loch or lough. Entries can be made for amateur or professional work – we want to read about small scale efforts to improve a stream at the end of the garden just as much as catchment-wide work funded by government agencies.

There are two categories: Professional and Amateur. The Professional winner and runner-up will each receive a trophy and a commemorative certificate; the Amateur winner and runner-up will also receive these but in addition the sum of £1000 and £500 respectively to be spent on their project.
http://www.wildtrout.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=230