If you are searching for the best flora and fauna to collect, Namibian stamps should be mandatory. Although recent programs have focused on plants and animals, previous issues highlighted the country’s Minerals and Mining industry (1991-1992), Railways 1995, Gliders 1998, Renewable Energy Sources 2001, and Namibian Heroes – Mandume yaNdemefaye (2008) to name a handful. But NamPost’s true strength lies in their ability to render beautifully detailed nature stamps.
Namibia’s 2023 stamps continue on with this theme with a program than can best be described as “local wildlife from secretive to squee!” Namibian artist Helge Denker once again supplied all the artwork for the entire year. Denker has spent his life working around Namibia’s parks, photographing and illustrating the flora and fauna. He has also acted as the director of the Namibian Environment and Wildlife Society. In 2021 he published Namibia Nature Parks: A personal guide to Namibia’s great wild spaces, (Gondwana Collection Namibia Windhoek, Namibia 2021), a 436 page illustrated guide to Namibia’s wild life and parks. It includes maps, photos and his own illustrations of some of his favourite places. So to have him continue illustrating Namibia’s stamps is like owning a small piece of his artwork.
Now, for a special treat, I’ll share one of my favourite Youtube live streams – Live Stream in the Namib Desert. The channel is live 24hrs day, and I usually have it running when I’m editing graphics and stamp scans. I crank up the sound and enjoy watching and hearing wildlife wander through. I have a game where if I see an animal on the live feed, I’ll rush to NamPost and see if I can find the animal/bird on one of their stamps. Maybe I should do a Live Stream in the Namib Desert Stamp Edition. What do you think?
At the top of the hour, the moderators of the live chat post a run down of all the animals that have made an appearance. That is useful if you are like me and struggle to identify a bird or animal. Don’t forget to click on the “Watch on Youtube button”!
February
Ground Pangolins
3 stamps, FDC, cancel, 3 sheets of 10
offset
Ground pangolins (smutsia temminckii) – also called Temminck’s pangolin. This mostly nocturnal animal is listed as a vulnerable species on the Red List. The greatest threats to pangolins are humans.
They are described as shy and secretive in their behaviour. The ground pangolin is the only species found in Namibia and feed primarily on ants and termites.
Temminck’s pangolin – African Pangolin Working Group
Despite its scaly appearance, this species is a mammal, not a reptile. Its scales are actually made up of keratin, which accounts for about 20 percent of its weight. It has a small head and a long, broad tail. It has no external ears, but its hearing is quite good. It also has no teeth and instead possesses a gizzard-like stomach that is specially adapted for grinding food. To assist the grinding, this scaly creature consumes small stones and sand. Pangolin | African Wildlife Foundation (awf.org)
Artist: Helge Denker
Release date: February 17, 2023
April
Crakes
3 stamps, FDC, cancel, 3 sheets of 10
offset
Crakes are another Namibian species often described as secretive. They can be seen foraging for insects in marsh and wetland areas.
- Ballions crake (porzana pusilia) Baillons Crake (Porzana pusilla) – Planet of Birds
- black crake (amaurornis flavirostra) Toronto Zoo | Animals
- African crake (crecopsis egregia) African Crake | Crecopsis egregia | Species Guide | Birda
Artist: Helge Denker
Release date: April 4, 2023
June
Wild Pigs of Namibia
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, 2 sheets of 10
offset
- warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) Warthog | African Wildlife Foundation (awf.org)
- bush pig (Potamochoerus larvatus) ADW: Potamochoerus larvatus: INFORMATION (animaldiversity.org)
Artist: Helge Denker
Release date: June 15, 2023
August
Sengis
3 stamps, FDC, cancel, 3 sheets of 10
offset
- Four-toed sengi (Petrodromus tetradactylus) – also called the Four toed elephant shrew
- bushveld sengi (Elephantulus intufi)
- Etendeka round eared sengi (Macroscelides micus)
Despite being called shrews, sengi are not members of the shrew family. They are a curious little mammal more closely related to elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks than shrews.
Elephant shrews are not, in fact, shrews. Recent evidence suggests that they are more closely related to a group of African mammals that includes elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks. Elephant shrews (also called sengis) are represented by a single family, the Macroscelididae, including four genera and 19 living species.
They take their name from their long pointed head and very long, mobile, trunk-like nose. They have rather long, legs for their size, which move in a hopping fashion like rabbits. They have a hunchbacked posture and a long, scaly tail. A gland on the underside of the tail produces a strong scent used to mark territories. This musky smell serves as a deterrent against many carnivores. Elephant Shrew | African Wildlife Foundation (awf.org)
There is a website devoted to sengis Sengis (Elephant Shrews). It includes photos, biology, distribution and more. This page from the site, Photographic Gallery | Sengis (Elephant Shrews), has a list of all the sengi, including the ones above.
Artist: Helge Denker
Release date: August 1, 2023
October
Hedgehogs
Coming soon.
Artist: Helge Denker
Release date: October 23, 2023
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