"Let us all type `komodo` and immediately send it (to 9818). Don`t forget to mention your identity as Gorontalo civil servants to let others know that Gorontalo`s people love Indonesia very much," Governor Arfan said here Thursday before a number of local civil servants.
"There are people who are for and against the participation (of Komodo in the New7Wonders race). But, as Indonesians , we must be among those who are for it," he said.
More than 1,000 civil servants attending the event, immediately sent their votes to 9818 via their cellular phones.
After the voting deadline on November 11, 2011, the New7Wonders Foundation will declare seven of the 28 sites named finalists in the ongoing New7Wonders competition as world Wonders of Nature.
Arfan said Indonesia is rich in endemic flora and fauna which are not to be found in other countries.
"The Komodo dragon is the world`s only surviving prehistoric animal, and that`s a miracle," he said.
He hoped that in the future more Indonesian endemic flora and fauna, including those to be found on Sulawesi Island, will be recognized as world wonders.
"we hope one day the maleo bird will be recognized as a world wonder," he said.
The Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) is a medium-sized (approximately 55cm long) blackish megapode with bare yellow facial skin, reddish-brown iris, reddish-orange beak and rosy salmon underparts. The crown is ornamented with a black helmet casque.
The Maleo`s egg is large, about five times as large as that of a domestic chicken`s.
The female lays and covers each egg in a deep hole in the sand and allows the incubation to take place through solar or volcanic heating.
(Uu.F001/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
