KUCHING, June 3: Marco is the winning name chosen by the public for the newest baby oriental pied hornbill born last April at the Piasau Nature Reserve.
Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) revealed the official name for the majestic and endangered bird in an announcement on June 1, the first day of the Gawai Dayak holiday on its Facebook page.
“Greetings to all my fans and friends all over the world. My name is Marco, the newest member of Piasau Nature Reserve. Thanks for giving me this awesome name. I hope I can meet you all soon,” the message on the SFC Facebook page read.
Marco’s name was chose by the public via SFC’s Facebook poll created on May 30 which invited the public to help choose a name for the newest addition to the reserve’s hornbill population.
The poll gave a selection of five names — Louis, Quarantino, Marco, Green and Covid.
According to SFC, Marco is the seventh breeding success of oriental pied hornbills in the Piasau Nature Reserve which is renowned for the breeding of the oriental pied hornbills residing within the reserve.
The rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of Sarawak. It is one of nine species of hornbill which can be found in Sarawak.
Hornbills are totally protected species (defined as species in danger of extinction due to hunting and habitat destruction) under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998. — DayakDaily
