The Chinese Egret is considered a threatened species by the International Council for Bird Preservation in 1966. The global population of the Chinese Egret is less than 4,000.

In Singapore, the Chinese Egret is a migrant, a winter visitor that flies here from the north and remains from September to April. Unlike other egrets such as the Cattle Egret, Reef Egret and Great Egret, it is not as good in adapting to habitats other than what it is used to, that is, shallow, tidal mudflats near river estuaries. Efforts have thus been made to safeguard this rare bird at its breeding locations and wintering grounds including Singapore.

This stamp issue is released as part of the WWF Conservation Stamp Collection. As such, every stamp in the set incorporates the PANDA device combined with the WWF initials, authorised by WWF, Trademark owner.

Eng Siak Loy, a veteran artist for stamps, puts his experience and skills to good use in attempting to draw a beautiful set of designs befitting this endangered species. Using only photographs and sketches from books as references, he managed to capture the attractiveness of this elegant bird.

The stamps are in a se-tenant strip of four stamps with denominations of 20¢, 25¢, 30¢ and 35¢. The designs capture the birds engaging in different activities with their preferred habitat of mangrove swamps in the background.

Eng Siak Loy also used illustrations of the Chinese Egret for his poster, first day cover and presentation pack. This beautiful bird is depicted against a refreshing blue background.

The Chinese Egret stamps will also be part of the WWF Conservation Stamp Collection which is the largest thematic collection worldwide. The Conservation Stamp Collection is promoted by WWF to raise money for conservation projects, increase awareness of the existence of WWF and of the plight of the threatened species and to better inform subscribers of the Collection about the endangered species around the world.

The WWF Conservation Stamp Collection is coordinated by Groth AG of Switzerland who sell it through established distributors and direct mail companies in different countries around the world. The Collection consists of philatelic items such as First Day Covers, Proof Cards, Mint Stamps and Maximum Cards and includes a foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Each set of stamps and other philatelic items will be accompanied by photographs and text on the threatened species.