With its new self-adhesive stamp series, the
Austrian Postal Service has succeeded in bestowing on selected animal species the status of ambassador between the paradise of the natural kingdom and the world we live in. These stamps are Austria's first self-adhesives to come in a roll in 100-piece sets. The European Pond Turtle is the only species of turtle that is indigenous to Austria and for that reason is under strict protection. Its favoured habitat are river systems untouched by human hands with muddy riverbeds and wetland forests featuring thick vegetation and plenty of dead brushwood for basking in the sun. A large population of pond turtles is currently inhabiting the Danube Floodplain National Park.
Konrad Lorenz, Austria's great behaviourist, once said, "The desire to keep an animal stems from a primordial basic need, namely the longing on the part of civilised people to regain their paradise lost."
