Under the Endangered Species Act, which marks its 50th anniversary in 2023, more than 1,300 imperiled plant and animal species are safeguarded to increase their chances of survival. With this pane of 20 stamps, the Postal Service presents a photographic portfolio of 20 representative endangered animal species. Those featured are found within the 50 states and U.S. territories and possessions or living near U.S. borders. The images are among more than 13,000 in photographer Joel Sartore’s “Photo Ark,” his project to document as many animal species as possible. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps with Sartore’s existing photographs.
Shown to the left, the Black-footed ferret is one of the species featured in this issue. In what is known as the Conata Basin region of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in Wall, South Dakota, the most successful Black-footed ferret reintroduction program was undertaken by the federal government, establishing a small but sustainable population of these mammals that had ceased to exist in that area.