1995-15, Rare Animals (Joint Issue of China and Australia)《珍稀动物》

Stamp Title: Rare Animals (Joint Issue of China and Australia)
Serial number: 1995-15
Values in set: 2
(2-1), Koala, 20 fen, 40*30mm
(2-2), Panda, 290 fen, 40*30mm

Date of issue: September 1, 1995
Designers: Xu Yanbo
Size: 40*30mm
Perforation: 11*11.5
Sheet composition: 20
Printing process: gravure-engraving combined

Background
Due to the changes in climate and living environment in the world, the number of many animals has increasingly reduced and some animals are even near extinction, such as Ailuropoda melanoleuca and David¡¯s deer in China, Phascolorctos cinereus (Koala) in Australia and bald eagle in the United States.

In China, Ailuropoda melanoleuca is generally called giant panda, which has a fat body, short tail, dense and lustrous fur. The animal is white while the part around the eyes, ears, the four limbs and shoulders are black . At present, panda only scatters in the remote mountains in western China and its living environment is forests in mountains 2,000-3,500 meters above sea level where bamboo grows. Solitary by nature, panda has a slow sense of sight and hearing. Pandas usually mate in spring and give birth to only 1-2 babies once in late autumn. To date, China has made success in the artificial raising and reproduction of pandas.

Koala is a lovely small animal only found in Australia. It lives on eucalyptus and seldom gets down to the ground, eating the leaves and buds of eucalyptus and drinking little water. Belonging to the order of Marsupialia, young koala is born at a weight of 5-6 grams and can come out of its mother marsupium six months after birth, but it has to stay at the back of its mother. Unlike kangaroo, koala has its marsupium open to the rear.

Panda and koala are both world-class rare animals.

1995年特种邮票《珍稀动物》
国家邮政局1995年9月1日发行《珍稀动物》特种邮票1套2枚。（与澳大利亚联合发行）
（2-1）T 考拉 20 分 4140.7万枚
（2-2）T 熊猫 290 分 2675.7万枚

志号名称：1995-15T
版别：影写、雕刻
整版枚数：20 枚
全套面值：3.10元
邮票规格：40 × 30毫米
齿孔度数：11×11.5度
设计者：许彦博
雕刻者：阎炳武、呼振源
印制机构：北京邮票厂