Description
MAGYAR POSTA / AILURUS FULGENS - AILUROPODA MELANOLEUC - SELENARCTOS TIBETANUS - THALASSARCTOS MARITIMUS - URSUS ARCTOS / 1977 GALL FERENC / Stamp
Postage stamp issued by Hungary in 1977. It features the artwork of Gall Ferenc, a Hungarian painter and graphic artist who specialized in animal portraits. The text lists the scientific names of five species of bears that are depicted on the stamp:
- Ailurus fulgens: the red panda, a small arboreal mammal that is not closely related to other bears, but belongs to its own family Ailuridae.
- Ailuropoda melanoleuca: the giant panda, a large herbivorous bear that feeds mainly on bamboo and lives in the mountains of China.
- Selenarctos thibetanus: the Asiatic black bear, also known as the moon bear or the white-chested bear, a medium-sized omnivorous bear that inhabits forests and mountains across Asia.
- Thalassarctos maritimus: the polar bear, the largest and most powerful of all bears, a carnivorous bear that lives in the Arctic regions and hunts seals and other prey on sea ice.
- Ursus arctos: the brown bear, a widespread and adaptable bear that occurs in various subspecies across Eurasia and North America, ranging from the grizzly bear to the Kodiak bear.
The stamp is part of a series of six stamps that celebrate the International Year of the Bear in 1977. The other stamp features Ursus americanus, the American black bear.