[press release]
Spotting wolves on stamps

The Hague, 2 January 2019. The wolf has returned to the Netherlands! Not only in the border region with Germany, but now also on new stamps about mammals in our country. They will be published today by PostNL, as the first issue of the second volume from the series ‘Experiencing nature’.

Portrayed mammals
In the Netherlands more than 100 mammal species live in the wild. Ten mammal species play a main role on the stamps: wild cat, Geoffroy’s bat, wolf, grey seal, stoat, polecat, European otter, fox, badger and rabbit. Each of the 10 portrayed mammals has its own stamp on the sheet, with images of the animals in their natural environment.

Sensory and associative
The stamps have been designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. The sensory and associative aspects of the experience of nature are highlighted in his concept. Janse: ‘Mammals are the most pettable, recognisable and intelligent animals we know. However, they also have nails, teeth and spines. I wanted to show this contrast, because these animals also have a dark side. Whether they are a predator or a prey animal. For example, think of the fear the wolf causes. and how people are terrified by flying bats. This is because we cannot predict their behaviour.’

Beauty of nature
With the new stamps PostNL pays tribute to the diversity of nature in our country. “It’s much greater than we sometimes realise at first,” according to Stephan van den Eijnden, PostNL’s commercial director for Mail. ‘This is also evident on the new stamp sheet, with beautiful photos of the 10 mammals. What I also particular like are the almost transparent images of 7 other mammals on the sheet. Try to find them, you will see them quickly.’

Buiten-Beeld
Later this year PostNL will publish another 3 stamp sheets for the series ‘Experiencing nature’, with a main role for exotic plants (25 Februari), butterflies (11 June) and trees and leaves (16 September). All photos on the stamps come from Buiten-Beeld, the Dutch image database for nature photography. In shops an individual stamp sheet ‘Experiencing nature’ costs € 8.70. The price for the full series is € 34.80, including a storage folder.