Skip to main content

Stamp Collecting Month (SCM) is especially for kids (or the inner child in all of us). It's about encouraging budding philatelists, and sharing some educational facts on an interesting topic. Learn more about the animals that feature on the 2016 SCM stamps, by exploring the fun facts and videos here.

Read transcript

Endangered Animals Stamps Voiceover Script

This October it's Stamp Collecting Month and this year’s theme is “Endangered Wildlife”. Let's go on a safari to visit four native and three exotic endangered animals that are part of Australia's conservation programs.

The Southern Corroboree Frog
Pseudophryne corroboree
Critically Endangered

The brightly coloured Southern Corroboree Frog is one of the world’s rarest frogs, living only in a small area in sub-alpine Mt Kosciuszko National Park. Its numbers have declined by more than 99 per cent since the 1980s because of its susceptibility to the chytrid fungus.

Captive breeding colonies are being maintained at the Amphibian Research Centre, Taronga Zoo, Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, and since 2010, hundreds of captive bred frogs have been released back into the wild.

The Snow Leopard
Panthera uncia syn. Uncia uncia
Endangered

The Snow Leopard is native to mountain ranges of central and south Asia. These cats are very rarely seen and are spread over two million square kilometres across 12 countries. There are only between 4,000 and 6,500 Snow Leopards left in the wild and this number continues to decline.

The Australasian region contributes to the International Snow Leopard Trust, and animals are currently housed at Melbourne Zoo and three privately owned zoos in Canberra and New South Wales.

The Asian Elephant
Elephas maximus
Endangered

The Asian Elephant is now restricted to just 15 per cent of its original range. Its population has declined by at least 50 per cent over the last 75 years, with its global population now estimated at just over 40,000. The elephant’s remaining habitat is shrinking fast and elephants are killed for their tusks, meat and leather.

Asian Elephants can be found at Melbourne Zoo, Perth Zoo, Taronga Zoo, and Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo.

The Western Lowland Gorilla
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Critically Endangered

The Western Lowland Gorilla is native to the dense, remote rainforests of central Africa. Because of poaching and disease, the gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60 per cent in the last 20 to 25 years, and its remaining population is thought to be around 100,000. They are illegally hunted for food, as pets, and for body parts for traditional medicine.

Australian Zoos participating in International Breeding Programs to save the Gorilla are Taronga, Melbourne, Werribee, and Mogo Zoos.

The Western Swamp Tortoise
Pseudemydura umbrina
Critically Endangered

The Western Swamp tortoise is a small freshwater creature found only in two locations in Western Australia. It's Australia’s most endangered reptile and it's very vulnerable to land clearing, pesticides, fertilisers, fire and predators like cats, rats and foxes.

Since the mid-1980s, habitat management, captive breeding and translocations have increased the number from just 50 to around 200 in the wild. Adelaide Zoo is part of the captive breeding program to ensure the long-term survival of the species.

The Orange-bellied Parrot
Neophema chrysogaster
Critically Endangered

The Orange Bellied Parrot is on the brink of extinction. The parrot breeds only in Tasmania and spends winters in coastal Victoria and South Australia. While the main threat to the parrot is the fragmentation of its habitat, predators such as cats and foxes also pose a threat.

In 2016, there are fewer than 50 birds in the wild. However, more than 340 birds have been successfully bred in captivity and these are gradually being been released into the wild in an effort to increase the number of this critically endangered parrot.

The Northern Quoll
Dasyurus hallucatus
Endangered

The Northern Quoll, a small, omnivorous marsupial, once occurred across northern Australia from Western Australia to southern Queensland, but is now found in isolated populations in the Pilbara, the Kimberley, north-west Northern Territory and eastern Queensland.

A major threat to the Northern Quoll is the poisonous Cane Toad. This introduced pest kills quolls that eat it. Other current threats include fires and feral cats. Management of existing populations and protection of islands from cane toads and feral cats are helping to protect this iconic species.

*

That brings us to the end of our Safari. Thanks for joining us! And remember to collect each of the “Endangered Wildlife” stamps as part of this year’s Stamp Collecting Month, beginning on the 20th of September.

Meet our endangered wildlife

  • Western Swamp Tortoise

    CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

    This small, short-necked freshwater tortoise, are found only in two locations...

    Read more

  • Western Lowland Gorilla

    CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

    This large primate is native to the dense, remote rainforests of central Africa.

    Read more

  • Snow Leopard

    ENDANGERED

    The beautiful Snow Leopard is native to mountain ranges in central and south Asia...

    Read more

  • Northern Quoll

    ENDANGERED

    This small, omnivorous marsupial was once found across northern Australia, from...

    Read more

  • Asian Elephant

    ENDANGERED

    The Asian Elephant used to roam over most of Asia, but is now restricted to just 15%...

    Read more

  • Orange-bellied Parrot

    CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

    One of the world’s rarest and most endangered species, this small parrot is on the brink...

    Read more

  • Southern Corroboree Frog

    CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

    This small, brightly coloured amphibian is one of the world’s rarest frogs.

    Read more

Behind the scenes: Why collect stamps and how stamps are made

Find out why stamp collecting is such a popular hobby, and watch how stamps get made.

Read transcript
TimeAudioVisual
0:00Music played mostly on fiddlers starts in the background.A young girl dressed in clothes from the 1800's is standing in the middle of a dirt road with an old two-story building made entirely of wood. The scene is reminiscent of an old western movie set. The building behind the girl has a Telegraph sign on it. A boy, taller than the girl, and dressed in clothes also of the time, walks towards the girl.
0:01Australians have been collecting stamps for over 150 years, 
0:02 The girl opens up her book of stamps to show the boy
0:03a couple of decades after stamps were first issued in 1840.Zoom in to the two children as the girl points to something in the open book. She leafs through a few more pages of the book.
0:08 Cut to the two children now sitting at a table inside an old house. They are each looking through their own books of stamps. The girl again points to one particular stamp and the boy looks over at it.
0:09Kids would collect stamps as a hobby, asking their family and friends to save stamps from letters and envelopes they received. 
0:17News about valuable stamps,Video now shows the words "Valuable Stamps" appearing letter by letter on a white page 
0:20like the famous American stamp called the US Inverted Jenny from 1918,Camera zooms down the page to a headline that reads "US Inverted Jenny" "Worth more than gold"
0:22 The camera pans right to show an image of the "Inverted" Jenny stamp. It is a  small almost square perforated stamp with a white border. Inside is a dark red line engraving with the words US POSTAGE and CENTS. One the bottom right and left of the stamp is a small dark red circle with 24. In the middle is a blue line drawing of a plane displayed upside down.
0:24which sold in 2016 for over one and a half million dollars!Text "SOLD FOR OVER 1.5 MILLION" is stamped over the stamp.
0:26and the world’s most valuable stamp,A large art-deco styled banner appears on screen. It is black, white and grey. The text THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE STAMP is shown
0:29the 1856 one cent British Guiana Stamp, Text: 'The 1856 One Cent British Guiana' appears with an image of that stamp underneath. It is burgundy in color in a hexagon shape. Little of the text is readable as there is also a postmark obscuring the old text. The only word legible is GUIANA at the bottom of the stamp.
0:33worth over 12 million dollars! has led to a huge interest in stamp collecting.Text: 'Worth over 12 Million Dollars' appears
0:38The value of stamps is determined by their age, their scarcity and their condition.
On a background of floating stamps an odometer with the text Age Scarcity Condition at the top and a needle, grey with red tip, pointed at word low. The needle slowly moves to the right until it comes to rest on the word High.
0:43But collecting is not just about a stamp’s value - it’s fun to collect colourful,
Cut to a scene of 4 children sitting beside an outside play area. The play area is in a park surrounded by grass and trees. The equipment is a complex amalgamation of ropes, wood, steel and blue plastic. The children are sitting in a circle looking at stamp albums. Using magnifying glasses to look more closely at the stamps. Sharing and talking to each other.
0:48interesting or unusual stamps, sort them into an album, and trade them with your friends!Close up on two of the children as they look at the stamps and albums more closely. The girl has a magnifying glass in her right hand and the boy is sitting crossed legged.
0:50 The two swap stamps
0:53Each year Australia Post dedicates a whole month to stamp collecting
A spinning page from a calendar displaying July comes into view. It then flips over to August., September then October before zooming in again
0:58and every year a different theme is chosen for a series of exciting new stamps and productsThe calendar page then zooms out rapidly, to show a selection of stamp collecting months stamps from previous years. The stamps then zoom in to reveal a white background.
1:02 A new illustration of a country scene with green hills and trees comes into focus.
1:04like the endangered species series which featured some Australia native animals including Two children appear in the scene along with the $1 Southern Corroboree Frog stamp, in the bottom right-hand corner, from the 2016 Endangered Wildlife stamp issue.
1:06 The trunk of an elephant is seen in the right of the video frame as the camera zooms out.
1:08the Orange-bellied parrot and the Southern Corroboree Frog, As the camera continues to zoom out we see an illustration on the left of the video frame of a Southern Corroboree Frog on a fallen log and on the right an orange-bellied parrot perched on a tree.
1:10as well as some exotic species like the Asian Elephant, and the Western Lowland Gorilla.The camera continues to zoom out and now a gorilla is seen on the left and more of the elephant on the right. The girl in the middle is looking through binoculars and turning around on the spot
1:17We’ve also explored the depths of our solar system where we took a thrilling rideThe video transforms to show a young boy in a spacesuit. In the right-hand bottom of the screen is the 70c Saturn stamp from the Our Solar System stamp issue. The camera zooms out from the boy as he looks around
1:20 Behind the boy, an image of Earth can be seen.
1:22
through space and visiting all 8 planets; The zoom out increases quickly and the eight planets and the sun of our solar system replace the disappearing boy.
1:26
from the inhospitable heat of Mercury and VenusThe focus of the video is then changed to the two planets closest to the sun, Mercury and Venus.
1:28
through to the eerie, cold gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.Action zooms to the right with a new focus on Jupiter and Saturn.
1:32
 Back to an illustrated scene again, this time of prehistoric earth. Two children are facing the left of the screen while two erupting mountain volcanoes explode in the background, behind a Tyrannosaurus Rex. In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen is the 60c Qantassaurus stamp from Australia's Age of Dinosaurs 2013 stamp issue.
1:33
And we travelled way back in time with some beautifully illustrated drawings of some weird and wonderful The children are walking and looking around themselves, high and low, while the dinosaur moves behind them.
1:37
and sometimes scary, dinosaurs.The Tyrannosaurs Rex makes a loud roar and the camera quickly turns to focus on the children as they look around with fear in their eyes. They turn to look to where the dinosaur was making the noise.
1:40    The camera zooms out again and we see the full picture of the dinosaur roaring and the children cowering in fear.
1:43
All you need to start your own collectionReplacing the previous screen the video now shows an inside spread of the Star Trek stamp pack 
1:45
is a stamp album and some stamps.Image flips to show the two inside pages of the Peppa Pag stamp pack that zooms in gently before revealing 
1:47You can buy stamps from your local Australia Post shop,the inside spread of the Danger Mouse stamp pack.
1:49swap them with your friends, or ask your family to save stamps for you.Image flips again to show the inside spread of the Giggle and Hoot stamp pack.
1:51 Image flips once again, now showing the inside spread of the Superman stamp pack.
1:54Stamp collectingThe text 'Stamp Collecting' appears comprising of a multiple coloured overlay.
1:55is a lot of fun.The text 'is a lot of fun' appears comprising of a multiple coloured overlay.
1:57And who knows, you may even find a rare stamp worth a lot of money!The upside-down Jenny aeroplane comes into the screen from the right-hand side. It moves all the way to the right and is gone.
2:01 Australia Post logo
2:02 Text 'auspostcollectables.com.au' appears below the logo.
2:12 Video ends.
Read transcript

Male inspecting printing plates
[Slate]: Plate production using a plating system from Du Pont
Male placing paper rolls onto printing machine
Paper rolls running through printing machine
Printing machine running
[Slate]: Four Colour printing on a flexographic printing press
Printing machine running, printing stamps
[Slate]: Stamps are then coated with phosphor and die cut
Printing machine running, printing stamps
[Slate]: The printing machine contains UV lamps to cure the ink through each stage
Printed stamps being passed through the machine and collected onto large rolls
Rolls of stamps going through Quality Control (QC)
[Slate]: Stamps go through inspection using cameras to detect abnormalities
Vision of QC process and inspection
[Slate]: During inspection imperfect stamps are replaced
Stamps passing through QC machine
Male inspecting printed stamp sheets by hand
Australia Post van driving out of production facility
[Slate]: Stamps are then transported to the Australia Post Production Facility
Printed stamps going through cutting machine to produce smaller rolls
Smaller stamp rolls produced, going through conveyor belt
[Slate]: Stamps are cut into smaller rolls of 200 stamps and placed in packaging
Smaller stamp rolls going through conveyor belt to packing
Stamp rolls packaged into boxes
[Slate]: Rolls are picked and boxed and made ready for delivery
Boxes being processed through convey belt
Australia Post van driving out of production facility

Australia Post Logo

Browse our Stamp Collecting Month themes from previous years

  • Aussie Big Things - Stamp Collecting Month 2023

  • Australian Dinosaurs - Stamp Collecting Month 2022

  • Full STEAM Ahead! – Stamp Collecting Month 2021

  • Wildlife Recovery – Stamp Collecting Month 2020

  • In the Garden – Stamp Collecting Month 2019

  • Reef Safari – Stamp Collecting Month 2018

  • Dragonflies – Stamp Collecting Month 2017

  • Endangered Wildlife – Stamp Collecting Month 2016

  • Our Solar System – Stamp Collecting Month 2015

  • Things That Sting – Stamp Collecting Month 2014