Postcard # 11: Pakistan:9th SAF Games Postcard # 3

Here is the 3rd postcard issued on the occasion of 9th SAF Games, Pakistan. This beautiful postcard from Pakistan features the two mascots of the games. Bholu, the Himalayan Bear, was the official mascot of the 9th SAF Games and he was helped by her co-mascot/friend Sassi - the Blind Indus Dolphin. In the center the postcard shows Bholu carrying the SAF Games Torch with Sassi smiling on his huge tummy while on the sidelines of the postcard they are shown playing various sports.

Here is a brief account of both these beautiful animals:-

The Himalayan Bear: The Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) is a subspecies of the Brown Bear. Himalayan Brown Bears are usually sandy or reddish-brown in color. They are located in the foothills of the Himalaya and Northern Pakistan. The actual population of the bears is unknown due to their rarity but is estimated at around 20-28 in the Deosai National Park.  The Himalayan Brown Bear and the Himalayan Red Bear (the Dzu-Teh) are also believed to be the source of the legend of the Yeti. Anyone having any idea if the bears in "Goldilocks and the three bears" are also brown bears or some other species??? :) 

Pakistan Post has also issued a set of 4 WWF stamps to save Himalayan Black Bear in 1989 which is another beautiful yet endangered species of Himalayan bear family.

The Blind Indus Dolphin: The Blind Indus River Dolphin (Platanista Gangetica Minor) is one of the world's rarest mammals and the second most endangered freshwater river dolphin. Approximately 1,100 specimens of this species exist today in a small fraction of their former range, the lower reaches of the Indus River in Pakistan. The population of this species has gradually declined because of various factors, including water pollution, poaching, fragmentation of habitat due to barrages, and dolphin strandings in the irrigation canals. Pakistan Post has also issued a set of 2 beautiful stamps on Indus Blind Dolphin in 1982.