COVER N.158 -  KAZAKHSTAN

Postmark: Kasapost 09.08.22
Posted on 9th August; received on the 22th August 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Another country to add to the list, Great! Thank you so much Marat, the more so since I can't help noticing that you went the extra mile trying to only include stamps related to my preferences. 

I was writing about the silk road the other day à propos the nice cover I got from China and now it looks like I'm doing some sort of air mail silk road journey... so I'll drop by the caravanserai to rest and write a few lines about the nice stamps used to post this nice cover to Portugal.

Stamps left to right:

On 24SEP2021, Kazpost issued a 4 four stamp definitive series dedicated to endangered species - Artiodactyls of the Red Book of Kazakhstan, comprising 5, 20, 200 Kazakhstani teńge and Tariff A values. 

The 20 teńge stamp on the cover is illustrated with a drawing of an Argali (Ovis ammon karelini) the largest species of wild sheep, native to the  highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains. It is classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, particularly because it is a top target for poachers and hunters looking for an impressive trophy....

The preceeding definitive series of 2020 also themed on endangered species of Kazakhstan, issued on 12MAY2020  was dedicated to fishes and it included six values: 5,10, 20,60, 200 teńge and Tariff A. The 20 teńge stamp on the cover depicted a Siberian taimen (Hucho taimen), also known as the Siberian giant trout or Siberian salmon, that is distributed across areas of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. 

The Siberian taimen is classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

On the very last day of 2002 31DEC2002, Kazpost issued a two stamp set themed on aircraft, with 20 and 40 teńge denominations depicting an Ilyushin Il-86 and a the ill fated Tupolev Tu-144.

The Il-86 was the first wide-body aircraft produced by the then Soviet Union and the second such category aircraft to be propelled by 4 engines, after the Boeing B-747. It first flew in 1976. As usual it was used by the airlines of countries within the former soviet union sphere of influence, including  the flag carrier of Kazakhstan in its two iterations as Kazakhstan Airlines and Air Kazakhstan, although, at present, no civil operator uses the type, of which 3 aircraft continued to fly in 2020 with the Russian Air Force.

The Tupolev TU-144 was the Soviet Union's counterpart to the Concorde, and its maiden flight took place on the very last day of 1968, some two months before the Anglo-French design.

It was used commercially on the Moscow / Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) route for only 55 flights after which the project was abandoned, following an accident in 1978 and the consequences of the oil crisis of the day, since the type was even more fuel-inefficient that its western counterpart.The immensely gluttonous aircraft had to fly full time with its afterburners on, contrary to the Concorde which only used them for take off (and what a sight that was, at dusk, in Lisbon Airport, where I saw it more than once).

As a sad but curious note, I remember quite clearly seeing live on tv, in 1973, the tragic  accident of the Tu-144, at le Bourget airshow.

Again on the last day of the year 31DEC2019 Kazpost issued a souvenir sheet containing three stamps dedicated to the  Barsa-Kelmes Nature Reserve. Located on what was once an island in the  Aral Sea and established in 1939, the reserve is now surrounded by one of the worst ecologic disasters known to men, but it still maintains its importance in terms of biodiversity conservation. 

The three 500 teńge stamps depict the Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) - that on my cover- a critically endangered species ; the Onager (Equus hemionus onager) or Persian wild ass, listed by the IUCN as endangered and the Purple Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) a plant now common in many gardens around the world.