"The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος), is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) After the elephant, the hippotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe.

The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and West African mangroveswamps ^[3] where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river [MY NOTE: that's a stretch] and groups of 5 to 30 females [MY NOTE: that's EVEN MORE of a stretch, but hey!...] and young."

"Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, porpoises, etc.) from which they diverged about55 million years ago.^[4] The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago".

"Even though they are bulky animals, hippopotamuses can run faster than a human on land. Estimates of their running speed vary from 30 km/h (18 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph), or even 50 km/h (30 mph). The hippo can maintain these higher speeds for only a few hundred meters."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus

Democratic Republic of the Congo

République Démocratique du Congo


Flag	Coat of Arms

Motto: Justice – Paix – Travail
(French: Justice – Peace – Work)

Anthem: "Debout Congolais"
(French:"Arise, Congolese")

Capital
(and largest city)

Recognised national languages

Lingala, Kikongo,Swahili, Tshiluba

Demonym

Congolese

Government

Semi-presidential republic

from Belgium

30 June 1960

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République démocratique du Congo) is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world. With a population of nearly 71 million,^[1] the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous officially Francophone country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as Congo. However, in order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo to the west, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is sometimes referred to as DR Congo, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour). It also borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Atlantic Ocean to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east.^[1]The country has access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (25 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly 9 km wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_congo

"In Zaire, in Zaire..." :)

Can you see some PINK in the set of maxicards above?

Gum tissue? Writing on a stamp?

===========

Happy Pink Saturday! (still open on Sunday!)

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}

"The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organizationworking on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and theUnited States. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300^[4]conservation and environmental projects. WWF is a foundation,^[5] in 2010 deriving 57% of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as the World Bank,DFID, USAID) and 11% from corporations.^[6]

The group says its mission is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment".^[7]Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change."

World Wide Fund for Nature

Founder(s)	Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld Julian Huxley ^[1] Max Nicholson Peter Scott Guy Mountfort Godfrey A. Rockefeller ^[2]
Type	Charitable trust
Founded	April 29, 1961 (First office opened in September, 1961 in Morges, Switzerland)
Location	Gland, Switzerland
Key people	President: Yolanda Kakabadse
Area served	World wide
Focus	Environmentalism
Method	Lobbying, research, consultancy
Revenue	€525 million (2010) ^[3]
Motto	For a Living Planet
Website	wwf.org panda.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Fund_for_Nature

WWF Stamp Shop - Groth AG

Groth AG

Groth AG specialises in the production of philatelic and numismatic collectables. We are one of the worldwide leading and experienced companies in this field.

The collectables are produced in high Swiss quality and are well-known and accepted by our customers.

Some of the collectables that we produced are:

Year of the Child 1979

UNICEF Flag Stamp Collection Mother and Child

UN Collection Endangered Animals

Medal Collection 30th Anniversary of WWF

Our main collection, however, is the WWF Conservation Stamp Collection. Groth AG is the sole licensee of WWF International, Gland. Only with the agreement of WWF International and Groth AG, can stamps be issued with the WWF Panda Logo.

Since 1983, some 1,500 different stamps, all arranged by Groth AG have been issued in 211 countries. The WWF Conservation Stamp Collection is the largest thematic collection worldwide.

Groth AG was established by Hans Groth in 1965. To this day we are a family owned business. Hans Groth is the CEO and his son Daniel Groth is a member of the Board of Directors. Anita Groth, married to Hans Groth on January 20, 2006, is responsible for the production of the WWF Stamp Collection.

His Royal Highness, Prince Philip - President Emeritus of WWF International - with Anita and Hans Groth.

Our office is at the Gewerbestrasse 19 in Unterägeri (Canton Zug). A beautiful little town with over 7 500 inhabitants with its enchanting lake at the foothills of the Swiss Alps. More information can be found at the Website www.aegerital.ch.

WWF Information

25th Anniversary WWF Stamp Collection

GROTH AG UPDATE

Article in Newsletter "The Nature of Business" WWF International January 2007

When Hans Groth, CEO of Groth AG, signed the contract with WWF in 1982, he was confident the WWF Stamp Collection would be a long-term product that would last for at least 10 years!

Today, Hans is proud to say that the collection - the largest thematic collection in the world - is still selling well and that his company will soon be celebrating a quarter of a century of collaboration with WWF. It is projected that the Collection will continue to be produced at least until 2011 when WWF will celebrate its 50th Anniversary.

To date over one billion stamps and almost 400 issues have been printed and sold, generating more than 20 million Swiss francs in royalties - an important source of funding for WWF's conservation activities.
Groth AG was established by Hans Groth in 1965. lt is a family-owned business of which Hans is the CEO and his son Daniel a member of the Board of Directors. Hans' wife Anita is responsible for production of the WWF Stamp Collection. Their offices are in Unteraegeri (Zug, Switzerland), a charming town in the foothills of the Swiss Alps.

At its 1998 Annual Conference in Interlaken (Switzerland), WWF awarded Hans Groth the Gold Panda Award - the organization's highest environmental prize - in recognition of his dedication to the cause of the environment.

Hans and Anita have expressed their pleasure at working with WWF, saying: "We wish to thank the team at WWF International for their confidence which has allowed us to produce this beautiful collection over the past 25 years."
Contact: hans.groth@groth.ch
See also: www.wwfstamp.com