2019-07-09 Tue

On 24th July, Canada Post is going to release four non-denominated, permanent-rate stamps featuring close-up photographs of four different bears - polar bear; North American brown bear; black bear and Kermode bear. A wildlife photographer named Postma took the picture of the grizzly bear while another photographer named Valberg took the pictures of the other three bears. The stamps were designed by Andrew Perro. Country name, “P” in maple leaf emblem for permanent-rate stamps and the scientific name of the bear are also featured on the stamps.

The stamps were printed by four-colour lithography by Lowe-Martin. 250,000 booklets of eight (two panes of four se-tenant stamps) and 40,000 panes of four are available. The selvage shows a black bear. 7,000 FDCs will be released with first-day cancel showing four paw prints. The cachet depicts a polar bear walking on sea ice. The cancellation would be done at a First Nations community in British Columbia called Klemtu as the Kermode bear is admired by Tsimshian First Nations.

Almost 25,000 grizzlies live in the western and northern regions of Canada. They can grow up to 8 feet tall, weigh up to 800 pounds and run at a top speed of 35 mph. Grizzly bears are powerful but eat nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, roots, rodents and moose. The fur of Grizzlies appears to be white-tipped or grizzled, due to which they are called that way.

Black bears are found abundantly in North America. They live everywhere in Canada except Prince Edward Island. They can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh up to 600 pounds. Black bears eat almost anything that’s available. They eat berries and nuts in the summers and autumn. They also feed on fish, small mammals, and birds as well.

The Spirit Bear/ Ghost Bear or Kermode Bear became one of British Columbia’s official symbols in April 2006. A large number of Spirit Bears live in the Central and North Coast and North Coast of British Columbia. These are actually black bears with white fur that looks greyish due to a rare genetic characteristic. It’s named after the early 20th-century director of the Royal British Columbia Museum, Frances Kermode.

The polar bear is the only species of bear which is a marine mammal. They are found on the sea ice of U.S. (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway (Svalbard) They hunt seals, can grow up to 10 feet and can weigh more than 1 ton. Almost 2/3rd of the world’s polar bears live in Canada.

Image Courtesy: Canada Post