U.S. stamps
The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) has released a set of 12 stamps illustrated with beautiful artwork of endangered species. For the last 21 years, the UNPA has issued this stamp series in order to raise awareness of the need for protection of endangered animals across the globe.
The sets for 2014, all of which are pictured here, were released yesterday. Each 2014 stamp features a marine animal. There are three sets: United States, Swiss and European. The U.S. stamps depict Denise's pygmy seahorse, the whale shark, scalloped hammerhead and the Asian arowana. Swiss stamps include the arapaima, basking shark, largetooh sawfish and Siberian sturgeon. European stamps feature the humphead wrasse, great white shark, giant manta ray and the paddlefish.
American artist Amadeo Bachar created the artwork for the 2014 series. His background in marine biology and scientific illustration made him a particularly qualified artist to handle the task. Bachar's work has been featured in National Geographic and Scientific American, among other prominent publications.
See more of Bachar's work at his website. The stamps can be ordered here.
-Via i09 | Images: UNstamps.org
Swiss stamps
European stamps