WASHINGTON — Tigers. African and Asian elephants. Rhinos. Great apes. Marine turtles. The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp today on Capitol Hill at the Annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums reception that could help save them all. When issued in September, net proceeds from the sales of the Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.

“This stamp marks the fourth semipostal issued by the Postal Service. These types of stamps provide an extremely convenient way for the American public to contribute to help protect threatened and vanishing species,” said Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Multinational Species Coalition to make this stamp a resounding success.”

The Multinational Species Coalition is an alliance of conservationists, zoos, veterinarians, animal welfare groups, circuses and sportsmen. Representing more than 20 million members, the coalition was created to advocate for the Multinational Species Conservation Funds and is committed to bringing greater attention to this stamp and the funds it was designed to support. The funds will be divided among the African Elephant Conservation Fund, Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, Great Ape Conservation Fund, Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund and Marine Turtle Conservation Fund.

The Save Vanishing Species stamp, which can be preordered beginning today at usps.com/shop, features an illustration of a tiger cub by artist Nancy Stahl. The artwork on the full sheet of 20 stamps is dark green and includes silhouettes of a rhinoceros, a tiger, a gorilla, Asian and African elephants and a marine turtle. Stahl based both the stamp art and the silhouettes on photographs of wildlife. The phrases “Save Vanishing Species” and “Amur tiger cub” appear on the left side of the stamp. Derry Noyes served as the art director, designer and typographer for the stamp.

Five million sheets of stamps will be printed initially and reprints will be based on customer demand. The stamps will sell for 11 cents greater than a First Class Mail stamp — 55 cents — and $11 for a sheet of 20.

Legislation creating the semipostal stamp was passed and signed into law in September 2010 as the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010.

Three semipostal stamps have been issued by the U.S. Postal Service and today only the Breast Cancer Research stamp is available:

• Breast Cancer Research, 1998–current. Net proceeds of more than $74.1 million to date have gone to the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
• Heroes of 2001, 2002–2004. Net proceeds of $10.5 million went to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. No longer available.
• Stop Family Violence, 2003–2006. Net proceeds of $3.1 million went to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No longer available.

To preorder the Save Vanishing Species stamps, go to usps.com/shop. A Save Vanishing Species note card set is available for preorder as well. The set contains 10 blank cards featuring the image of the stamp, 10 envelopes and 10 stamps for $15.95.

The Multinational Species Coalition includes:

For more information on the semipostal stamp and the coalition, visit fws.gov/international/semipostal.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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