International Wombat Day

Every year, on the 22^nd of October, we celebrate a small, burrowing marsupial native to Australia known as the wombat. International Wombat Day is dedicated to raising awareness about these fascinating animals and celebrating their existence in our world.

The wombat is related to koalas, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils. The babies remain in the mother's pouch (like kangaroos) for the first five months of their lives.

Even if their population is not endangered, wombats suffer habitat loss. Plus, the introduction of non-native species in Australia led to competition over food. In this case, wombats compete with non-native herbivores such as rabbits, cattle, sheep, and goats. They are also hunted for fur or simply because they disrupt farmers.

Czeslaw Slania's Birth Anniversary

 

Czesław Słania, born on 22 October 1921, was a Polish postage stamp and banknote engraver, living in Sweden from 1956. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Słania was the most skilled and prolific of all stamp engravers, with over 1000 stamps to his credit. His 1000th engraved stamp, based on the 17th-century painting "Great Deeds by Swedish Kings" by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (2000), is in the Guinness Book as the largest engraved stamp ever issued.