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as HAUTE VOLTA 1965
One of two stamps, the other featuring a lion, the 60f stamp bearing a West African crocodile (Crocodylus suchus) with the caption Caiman Sacre de Sabou. Sabou is a region in Burkina Faso with a lake containing 'sacred crocodiles' that tourists can feed or ride, for a fee, hmmm, I wonder what the tourists can do with the lion!
1966
Four stamps from a series of sixteen, feature commonly encountered reptiles of West Africa. It is worth noting that the Royal python (Python regius) is primarily a terrestrial species that rarely if ever climbs.
1973
A stamp issued for airmail use, in a series of five, featuring the West African crocodile (Crocodylus suchus).
1985
This series should be renamed "Reptiles and Amphibian" since there is only one frog represented, a southern African member of the Hyperolius marmoratus complex (there is a typo in the generic name on the stamp), although this species group has undergone considerable taxonomic change with several species being described from within its ranks, so I reserve judgement on the precise identity. The other six stamps are all reptiles. Of these the Flap-necked chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis, another typo on stamp) is also southern African, the Rough-tailed agama (Laudakia stellio) and Green lizard (Timon lepidus) are Euro-Asian, and the White-bellied carpet viper (Echis leucogaster), Eroded hingeback tortoise (Kinixys erosa) and Royal python (Python regius) are West African, so three from seven occur in Burkina Faso.
1988
As if to make up for the lack of amphibians in the previous set of stamps, the Aquatic Wildlife series contains one frog, but looks as though the species chosen is an Edible frog, at that time treated as a species (Rana esculenta) but now believed to be a hybrid between the Pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) and the Marsh frog (P.ridibundus), a European 'species' that does not occur in West Africa, let alone Burkina Faso - disappointing. 1995
I really like this set of 12 small, understated definitives featuring the West African crocodile (Crocodylus suchus). They are subtle and make a very smart set in an album.
The artwork in this series of three stamps is strangely primitive but attractive none-the-less. The 'boa' is a Saharan dwarf sand boa (now Gongylophis muelleri) and the tortoise appears to be an African spur-thighed tortoise (Geochelone sulcata), both species that occur within Burkina Faso or neighbouring countries, so it might be hoped the sandsnake is also a West African species and it does appear to be a Hissing sandsnake (Psammophis sibilans) which does occur in the country, although this is a complicated genus and there are other possibilities.
Associated links on this site:
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