Going Ape

France
UNESCO - Gorilla
December 4, 2008
Gorillas are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa.

Phew! Coming up for air after a busy period, finally time to thank KuoL for that nice gorilla, and see what I can do to reply. There have been some new issues from the usual "factories" such as Sierra Leone, mainly primates as part of some "Endangered Species" issue, and in most of these, the usual suspects - gorillas and orang utans, some chimpanzees. While these species are certainly endangered, most people would know they are, and to see, occasionally, a rather unknown but equally endangered species is great (as well a welcome addition to the collection).

Ivory Coast recently issued a set of 4 minisheets showing a single stamp each of an earlier MS of 4; the minisheets are shaped like the map of the country, with chimpanzees and colobus monkeys, and other species shown on the stamps, in the surround:



I suppose they are unusual in their shape ...

Sc#4546 2016

Thanks Rod222 - that gorilla stamp is not from the usual suspects but one of a set of stamps geaturing endangered animals from Australia; each species featured is part of a captive breeding program. If you are into big cats, there is a lovely snow leopard stamp, and an even nicer special FDC with a snow leopard coloured coin.

Below is an endangered animal issue from The Netherlands, a set of 5 of the pygmy chimpanzee or bononbo. The stamps are for international postage. Others in this issue are the blue whale, Spanish lynx, Amurleopard,polar bear, African elephant,European mink, Hawaian seal, European bison, giant panda, Tasmanian devil,and Grevy zebra.

Nigeria
Wild Life
November 8, 1990
Set of four, one stamp depicts mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei).

Cameroon
Endangered Animals
September 20, 1979
Set of five, one stamp depicts Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla).

Belgium
Endangered animals
August 22, 2016
Set of five, one stamp depicts Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei).

Sierra Leone
World Wildlife Fund - Chimpanzee
May 19, 1983
The stamp set portrays Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in Outamba-Kilimi National Park.

Hungary
WWF - Iconic Animals
July 2, 2018
Set of four, one stamp depicts Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus).

Thanks Kuol! Must be time for me to add to the topic - been away looking at wildlife in Indonesia and Malaysia for more than two months,saw a number of 'apes' - Sumatran and Bornean orang-utans, 5 species of gibbons, and four of macaques, proboscis monkeys, three species of langur and two of tarsiers!
So let me try and find some to illustrate this :



This is a new issue in the series of Endangered species - other new issues (one of which, the bonobo, I listed earlier)are Goeffroy's spider monkey, the mountain gorilla and the common chimpanzee). I had good views of the Sumatran orang-utan in Gunung Leuser National park, in North Sumatra; a female and her infant daughter, and a very impressive adult male; I saw the Bornean species in Sabah, in the Kinabatangang River area.



This issue shows both the proboscis monkey and the Sumatran orang-utan. For my next trip, I hope to see the lowland gorilla , also on this issue, and the mandrill (in the background) provided I can fatten up my piggy bank sufficiently (ie, not too many new monkey issues for a few months, please ... but then again, one can eat dry bread and survive!

1973
Michel # 2925
Orangutan infant.

India
Rare Fauna of the North East
October 1, 2009
Set of three, one stamp depicts Phayre's Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei).

Argentina
Brasiliana 2013
November 23, 2013
Set of two, one stamp features Brown Howler Monkey (Alouatta guariba).

Thanks for the new additions Kuol! The African countires have been busy (as usual) producing 'official' issues - lots of them, but some are very attractive:



This is from 2017, and shows some of the common primates often displayed: baboons, green monkey, red colobus, and diana monkey but also a spot-nosed guenon.

And some more of the lovely stamps featuring Joel Sartore's photographs. His ambition is to photograph all animals in captivity that are endangered, against a neutral, black or white background. A real background, and there have been problems with some of the larger animals!




These are slow lorises (not pottos - I labelled them incorrectly) - a group of primates endangered not just by the loss of habitat but especially by the pet trade; their appealing faces and teddy bear looks make people think they of course must be great pets. However, these are the only poisonous primates;they have poison glands on their elbows which they lick, amking their saliva poisonous. If humans are allergic to the poison, it may trigger a potentially fatl reaction. Field biologist George Madani almost died of a loris bite:
https://jvat.biomedcentral.com/arti...8-9199-20-43