TYLER, Texas (KETK) – One of the animal ambassadors from the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler is set to be featured in a new set of Forever stamps by the USPS.

The collection will be released on May 19 and will feature an image of an Attwater’s prairie chicken from the Caldwell Zoo.

The rest of the collection will display photos of endangered animals selected from Joel Sartore’s National Geographic Photo Ark project, which has documented over 13,000 different species.

Below is a picture of the complete set of stamps that will be available on Friday.

Attwater’s prairie chickens are native to the southern parts of both Texas and Louisiana, but they are so endangered, they can only be found in two places within our state: the national refuge and the Goliad private reserve.

The Caldwell Zoo established a dedicated breeding center for these native Texas birds in 1992 and has been committed to the cause ever since.

“The Caldwell Zoo is proud to be in a group of Texas Zoos, along with our partners at Texas Parks and Wildlife, that has identified the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken as a Texas treasure and a valuable part of a shrinking ecosystem. The Attwater’s Prairie Chicken is now found only in the state of Texas, with a wild population of approximately 180 individuals. The Caldwell Zoo staff is working hard, along with the resources provided to us by each paying guest, to propagate and reintroduce this unique bird back into protected coastal grasslands in Texas.”

Paul Swen, Caldwell Zoo

Because of their endangered status, while raising the chicks, careful attention is given to their genetics. Each one that is hatched and raised gets their own special identification number, which is placed on a blue band on the chick’s leg.

If you would like to learn more about preservation efforts, you can do that here.