1999 IRELAND

EXTINCT IRISH ANIMALS / ΕΞΑΦΑΝΙΣΜΕΝΑ ΖΩΑ ΤΗΣ ΙΡΛΑΝΔΙΑΣ

The stamps featured animals now extinct in Ireland. The wolf survived here up to the beginning of the 18th century, while the brown bear was present up to 7,000 years ago. About 33,000 years ago mammiths inhabited Ireland, and became extinct here about 20,000 years ago. Although the giant Irish deer made its first appearance around the same time as the mammoth, the animal is especially associated with a warm period about 12,000 years ago.