Mail delivery by animal

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Mail delivery by animals has been used in many countries throughout history. It used to be the only way to quickly transport large bundles of letters over long distances, until motorised vehicles became more widespread. Mail is still delivered by animals in a few remote locations that lack vehicular road access.

The term "

Camels

In Australia, camels were used to transport mail and supplies from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs until around 1929 when the railroad superseded it. The journey of around 520 kilometers took Afghan cameleers (Muslims and expert cameleers came from around the British Empire, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, signed a 3 years contract and often married and created families in Australia)^[1] around four weeks. The service was celebrated by descendants of the cameleers in 2002.^[2][3]

Dogs

Dogs were used to deliver mail when pulling a

Dogsled mail also saw limited use in the northern parts of Russia during the first half of the 20th century.^[citation needed] When there was sufficient ice buildup, Sakhalin huskies were used to cross the Strait of Tartary and mushers would note the ability of the dogs to navigate over ice flows during blizzards, even maintaining the correct course over the 480 kilometres (300 mi) from Nikolaevsky-on-Amur to Alexander post on Sakhalin.^[5][6]

In recent years, competitive

Horses

Horses were a primary method of delivering mail and messages for many years in different countries around the world. Riders on horseback could take small bundles quickly, while carts pulled by horses could take large amounts of mail very long distances.

Relay rider networks were a common feature of every ancient empire. They were primarily for the exclusive use of the government or military and carried no civil correspondence as a rule. Later, post riders became popular when there was an obvious demand for the transportation of public correspondence.

The

The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the North American continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast, operating from April 1860 to November 1861. Messages were carried on horseback relay across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the western United States. It briefly reduced the time for mail to travel between the

Regular mail delivery is now provided by horses in limited areas where other forms of transportation are not practical. For example, some towns in mountainous parts of

The use of

From around 1899, reindeer were used to deliver mail in Alaska for the U.S. postal service. The first route was established by Sheldon Jackson and ran from St. Michael to Kotzebue, with another managed by William Kjellmann going between Unalakleet and Nome. Distances of 30–50 miles were covered by the service, with the reindeer carrying up to 300 pounds (140 kg) of mail.^[10]

Cats

In the 1870s, cats were being trained in Belgium to deliver mail to replace homing pigeons. The Belgium Society for the Elevation of the Domestic Cat took 37 cats from the city of Liège and dropped off several miles away with a written message in a waterproof bag attached to their bodies. The goal was to see if the cats would return to their homes and how long it would take them to arrive. The first cat arrived 4 hours and 48 minutes later, while the rest of the 36 cats completed their return within 24 hours of being dropped off.^[11]

See also

• List of philatelic topics
• Airmail
• Rocket mail
• Pasilalinic-sympathetic compass

References