UN issues Iranian salamander stamp

The UN Postal Administration issued a set of stamps to celebrate 25 years of its Endangered Species series on the occasion of the World Wildlife Day, March 3.

The plants and animals shown on the Philatelic collections come from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). According to the international agreement, certain specimens of wild animals and plants will be featured on the stamps to safeguard them.

'Roughly 5,800 species of animals and 30,000 species of plants are protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade,' CITES said.

The UN $ 1.15 stamps are issued in panes of 16, each with four side-by-side designs.

The stamps for use from the UN headquarters in New York City illustrate Lorestan newt, a colorful salamander from the southern Zagros Mountains in Iran; goldenseal, a perennial herb native to southeastern Canada and the eastern United States; the Andean hairy armadillo, an armadillo endemic to Bolivia and northern Chile, and the beautiful red-crested turaco, a fruit-eating bird endemic to western Angola.

Hunting and trading the rare amphibian is illegal and the poachers will be arrested and ticketed.

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