Joint Issues : India - Philippines

Stamp Design/Theme: Fauna (Cetaceans), Gangetic Dolphin, Butanding
Occasion: 60 Years of diplomatic relations between India and Philippines.

India:
Issue Date: 16.11.2009
Miniature Sheet
Denomination: Rs.5 and Rs. 20 each, Miniature Sheet Rs. 25

Philippines
Issue Date: 16.11.2009
Miniature Sheet, Sheetlet of 5 Pairs.
Denomination: Miniature Sheet 20 Peso and 7 Peso each. Sheetlet 7 peso each.

The Ganges River Dolphin or Gangetic Dolphin is a freshwater dolphin that is found primarily in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and their tributaries in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Its zoological name is Platanista gangetica. From the 1970s until 1998, they were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of a single species. It prefers to swim in deeper waters. During times of flood the Ganges River Dolphin is also seen in seasonal channels and flood plains. It prefers to stay in water with a temperature between 8 and 33 deg Celcius. The Ganges river dolphin has been recognized by the government of India as its National Aquatic Animal.

Butanding (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeding whale shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 meters and a weight of more than 21.5 metric tons, and there are unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks. It can live for about 70 year it is usually found in tropical and warm oceans as their habitat. The whale sharks “Butanding” usually” visits the waters of the Philippines specifically in Donsol from the month of November to May. Butanding is migratory creature in nature which commonly travels across the oceans which close to the equator. Studies showed that nowhere else in the world they have seen a larger group of butanding than in the waters of Donsol, Sorsogon.