1996 Extinct New Zealand Native Birds

When New Zealand broke away from the great southern supercontinent Gondwanaland some 80 million years ago, birds were abundant. But snakes and land mammals, apart from bats, were absent. It was paradise for the original birds and others that flew or floated here later.

        The same qualities that have made many New Zealand birds distinct from others around the world have also helped to make them extinct. Flightlessness and bulk, along with tens of thousands of years living in a predator-free environment, left many bird species vulnerable when they began sharing the islands with humans and introduced predators.

1993 Dinosaurs

The name 'dinosaur' originates from a combination of two Greek words: 'deinos' meaning terrible and 'sauros' meaning lizard. It is these 'terrible lizards' - in particular those that once walked on New Zealand soil - that are the subject of this stamp issue.

       

For 165 million years dinosaurs ruled the earth with unparalleled strength and power. To date, some 500 types of dinosaur have been identified, but this is believed to be only a fraction of the species that actually existed. They came in all shapes and sizes (some were as small as chickens, while some were as tall as five-storey buildings) and they displayed a wide range of social behaviour patterns (some were gentle in nature and ate plant life, while others were violent and threatening, and ate those that ate the plant life!). 

2010 Ancient Reptiles of New Zealand

In 2010 New Zealand Post celebrated our incredible extinct natural heritage with an issue of five oversized stamps and five amazing coins. These species disappeared 65 million years ago, but with a little help from New Zealand Post, you can see what it might have been like to meet them face to face. A hundred million years ago, our land formed the eastern margin of the southern super-continent of Gondwanaland. Separated by ocean, ‘Zealandia’ had its own group of dinosaurs, pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and giant marine reptiles that thrived here for 20 million years.

2009 Giants of New Zealand.

          I found an interesting collection of abandoned art work that had been prepared for the 2009 Giants of New Zealand issue by the designer Dave Gunson, from Auckland. I thought it would make a great subject for this blog. First we are going to look at the set as issued then we will go through this small collection of art work trials.

          The 2009 Giant Issue featured five creatures from around New Zealand, that were extra large for their kind. They were displayed using a cartoon form of drawings on five extra large postage stamps. Two of the creatures shown have long been extinct while the other three still survive, although they are all on the rare or endangered list.

          These are very colourful stamps with their larger format being used to its full potential. Personally, I would have rather seen the drawings being closer to real life, particularly on the Giant Eagle. It appears the design selection for this issue was partly driven by the need to produce stamps that would stand out, almost shock, in their appearance.