The Argentine claim on South Georgia was beaten back by force. The Norwegians came and were allowed as they were willing to naturalize. The British outlasted them having banned their way of life. Then it was the turn of the reindeer to be exterminated, for the ecology you understand. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
What struck me about this stamp was how odd it is to show reindeer on a stamp that does not involve Christmas. Reindeer weren’t native to the cold South Atlantic islands but Norwegian examples were introduced by whalers from Norway and thrived.
Todays stamp is issue A1, a half penny stamp issued by South Georgia in 1963, at the time it was considered a Dependency of the nearby Crown Colony of the Falkland Islands. This first issue of South Georgia stamps consisted of 16 stamps of various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 55 cents.
The island of South Georgia had been spotted by several explorers, merchant sailors and pirates but Captain Cook was the first to land, survey and claim the uninhabited islands for Great Britain. In the 19th century there had been several attempts at seal harvesting but those operations were not conducted sustainably and were banned when the seal population was made tiny. In the early 20th century, there was an attempt at a whaling industry. New country Norway attempted to unsuccessfully to buy the islands from Great Britain. Britain allowed in their whaling camps and many naturalized as British citizens. At the height of it, the island was 90% Norwegian and only 5 percent British. The warm season saw 3000 residents dropping to about 300 in winter. In 1965, whaling was ended and the Norwegians departed.
Beginning in the 1920s and 30s, Argentina claimed the island. In 1982, a preexisting authorized Argentine camp began flying the Argentine flag and Argentine special forces landed. 27 Royal Marines fought them and killed several, shot down a helicopter and damaged an Argentine Navy Corvette by shooting it with a bazooka. The Argentines managed to take the island for a few weeks until the arrival of the British fleet. They still formally claim the island.There are still scientific stations and cruise ship visits as with Antarctica, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/10/british-antarctic-territory-1963-with-no-more-shackleton-we-better-make-bases-permanent/ , but no permanent residents on South Georgia.
Reindeers, 3 males and 7 females were introduced by Norway as a source of meat for their whaler residents. By the early 21st century there were over 7000 reindeer in two herds on the island. There numbers had increased after the departure of the Norwegians as they were no longer hunted. Ecologists came to believe that the reindeer were a threat to the glacier on the island. After 20 were moved to the Falkland Islands to preserve the now unique South Georgia breed, 7000 reindeer were exterminated in 2011-14. There are no longer any reindeer on South Georgia, a final 8 that escaped were hunted down and killed in 2015. Reindeers appeared on South Georgia stamps most recently 2004, but no stamp to mark the extermination. The unique bird life of South Georgia is still shown on their stamps. Better hope none of them accidentally land on the precious glacier.
Well by drink is empty and I am left wondering about the so called ecologists who decided the reindeer must be exterminated. Off with Dasher, off with Dancer…. I mean geez. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.