Commemorative stamp series - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1985 - 5 Pfennig

Animals threatened with extinction With the illustrations of several endangered species, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic issues five multi-colored special postage stamps. Special cancellation from 25 June to 24 August 1985 Animals in danger of extinction 5-pfennig value: Harpy (Harpia harpyja) The harpy is one of the most stately birds of prey in the world and is equipped with particularly strong catches. The species representative, which can hardly be confused with other grips thanks to the characteristic hood of the hood, reach a total length (Schnabeispitze to butt end) of 100 cm and a body mass up to 4.4 kg. Harpies inhabit the peripheral areas of the jungles of Central and South America. The clumps are built at a very high altitude on a jungle giant. The female lays one to two whitish eggs. As a rule, only one young bird successfully grows up. The species is specialized in monkeys, sloths, coatis, tree porcupines and other climbers dashing in an elegant, agile attack flight and violently - therefore the strong catches - to tear away from the branches. In addition, even on the ground running mammal as well as birds are looted. Harpies have become very rare not only in their homeland, they are hardly ever shown in a zoological garden. Tierpark Berlin entered a breeding community a few years ago with the Adlerwarte Berlebeck (BRD), and a male standing there was then brought together with the female in Berlin. This pair has bred successfully four times and raised one young bird each. As a result, the first breeding successes on a world scale.