Defenders of Wildlife Blog

This stamp will help save African and Asian elephants, marine turtles, rhinoceros, and tigers.

We may have to change the term “snail mail” to “tiger mail,” now that the U.S. Postal Service has issued a gorgeous new stamp that will benefit African and Asian elephant, marine turtle, great ape, rhinoceros, and—of course—tiger conservation.

Available in post offices nationwide on Tuesday, September 20, the Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp will sell at a premium price of 55 cents for a 44-cent, first-class stamp ($11 for a sheet of 20). The 11-cent premium will go towards wildlife conservation projects funded by the Wildlife Without Borders Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF).

The stamp, designed by artist Nancy Stahl, is a beautiful illustration of an Amur tiger cub, one of the many species supported by MSCF funds. Semipostal stamps are issued to raise money for various causes and Save Vanishing Species is only the fourth semipostal stamp to be issued in the U.S. It will be on sale for at least two years.

Defenders is a member of the Multinational Species Coalition that worked hard to pass the bill that made this stamp possible.

The stamp was released following passage of the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act in 2010. Defenders of Wildlife is part of the Multinational Species Coalition that worked hard to get the Act passed in Congress. The coalition is a broad-based coalition of organizations representing conservationists, zoos, circuses, sportsmen, veterinarians and animal welfare groups that support the popular and highly effective MSCF program.

While MSCF is currently funded by Congress, today’s uncertain fiscal climate may bring about cuts to these funds. The funding generated by the Save Vanishing Species stamp has the capacity to even out any gap caused by potential funding cuts, and has the ability to increase overall funds at no additional cost to the American taxpayer. The MSCF program currently provides support to over 250 grant recipients in over 75 countries.

Get Your Stamps Today!

You can help save Asian elephants, African elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes and marine turtles by purchasing Save Vanishing Species stamps at any post office.

And if a trip to the post office is not in your near future, you can also buy them online at the USPS online store.

Defenders Blog author Nilanga Jayasinghe attended the unveiling ceremony and is now the proud owner of her own sheet of Save Vanishing Species stamps!

Over the years, bats have gained a fearsome reputation due to their nocturnal behaviors and Dracula’s fame. But if you actually take a closer look, you’ll find that instead of looking scary, bats are actually quite cute! More important, they are vital members of the natural world because they pollinate plants and eat pest insects that damage crops.

Bats with white nose syndrome

What’s really scary is that many of those insect-eating bats in the Northeast are dying in large numbers from a mysterious disease called white nose syndrome (WNS), which is a fungal infection that affects hibernating bats in cave ecosystems. The fungus responsible for WNS is new to science and is named Geomyces destructens. A fuzzy white growth on the bats’ muzzles gives the disease its name, but the fungal growth has also been found on their ears, tails and the tender tissue of their wings. Scientists believe that bats are waking up more often during winter, perhaps as a result of the disease, and are dying because they use up all their already depleted fat reserves.

Now what are the economic impacts of these bat die-offs? An average of one million bats, the number of estimated WNS fatalities to date, consume around 700 tons of insects, most of which are crop pests. So in the absence of these natural pest controllers, farmers will have to spend a lot more to manage the pest insects that affect their crops.

Six species of bats have been affected by the disease, and little brown bats have taken the brunt of it. If the disease rages on at current levels, they will soon lose their status as the most abundant bat species in the U.S.

WNS first drew public attention in 2006 when wildlife officials and cavers began to see hundreds of dead bats littering the floors of caves. Since then, it has spread so rapidly that it is now present in states all the way from Vermont to Missouri and Oklahoma – as of now, it has been documented in 13 states. Six species of bats have been affected by the disease, and little brown bats have taken the brunt of it. If the disease rages on at current levels, they will soon lose their status as the most abundant bat species in the U.S.  Endangered species like Indiana and gray bats are also highly vulnerable to this disease, and since they hibernate in a few select colonies, it wouldn’t take much at all to drive these two species to extinction.

While scientists continue to discover new information about the disease every day, there are still many unknowns. Extensive research is needed to answer these questions, and in turn, funding is necessary to carry out this research. You can help by writing to your Congress members and asking them to increase federal funding for WNS research. Find out more about this deadly disease in the latest issue of Defenders magazine.