LOVE FLORA AND FAUNA 1997

The date 5 November is the National Love Flora and Fauna Day. Like the previous years since 1993, on the date this year the Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications issues the 1997 National Love Flora and Fauna stamp series as the continuation of the same series. This time the series features the animals and plants adopted as part of the official crests of five provinces, namely Soth Sumatra, Jakarta, West Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, an Southeast Sulawesi.

SOUTH SUMATRA
  • Duku Fruit (Lansium domesticum)
    The tropical fruit Duku has long been known in the area as a favoured fruit and the trees grow in almost all regions of the province. People call it 'duku from Palembang'. The duku trees grow in Malaya Peninsula, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In the market, the fruit has high economic value.
  • Belida Fish (Chitala lopis)
    Is known in this province for its delicous taste. From this fish local people make special food called 'pempek' and 'kerupuk' (fish chips). Besides in Indonesia, this fish can also be found in Thailand and Myanmar. This water fauna which can have 87 cm length and 15 kg weight is a predator. It eats shrimps and small fishes.
  
JAKARTA
  • Salacca of Condet (Salacca zalacca)
    Condet region in Jakarta is known as producer of many kinds of fruits, one of which is Salacca. The Salacca from Condet is popular for its sweet taste, large size and small seed. This flavoured, crunchy, snake-scaled palm fruit is prized in the Indonesian table. Salacca trees grow in bunch, the fruit come in stem, have dark brown colour with ordered fins. The leaves resemble long ribbons and orderly come of stem at the base of the tree.
  • The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
    Is known lately as the mascot of the 14th National Sports Week. It has bright chestnut plumage with white head, neck and breast. It has perfect flying ability and sharp vision in hunting its victims such as fish, frogs, snakes and lizards. Their remaining habitats are the Thousand Island and Jakarta Bay, where they can find mangrove forest.
  
WEST KALIMANTAN
  • Tengkawang Tungkul (Shorea stenoptera)
    Shorea of Tengkawang Tungkul, of the Dipterocarpaceae family, has oil-bearing nuts, locally known as Tengkawang oil. The tree blooms and bears single-seeded fruit at the age of 8 to 10 years. After months since its inception, the fruit becomes ripe and its skin gets hard. The frozen oils from shorea nuts is used in the chocolate, wax, soap, and cosmetics manufacture.
  • Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil)
    Or Tajai from West Kalimantan, the largest of its kind and regarded by the Dayaks, the native of Kalimantan, as a sacred bird. It has large head and bill and striking plumage. The solid casque at the top of its head is the source of the precious carved hornbill ivory - where it derives its name. The bird has dark brown coloration with white belly and dark red bill. The length of its tail can reach twice as long as its body. The bird can be found in Sumatra and Kalimantan up to the height 1,500 m above sea level. The hornbill's manic call is one of the most memorable and thrilling sounds of the Kalimantan jungle. It eats fruits, especially banyan seeds, palm fruits, insects, rats and small birds.
  
WEST NUSA TENGGARA
  • Ajan Kelicung (Diospyros macrophylla)
    This Black Wood or Ebony is favoured for its sweet smell. The tree grows in lowland mingling with other trees, and has no pure population. Its trunk is straight with 35 cm diameter. The tree blooms in July and October.
  • Rusa or Timor Deer (Cervus timorensis)
    It has small body, but long horns and tail. The colour of its body is yellowish dark brown. Rusa Deed are not easy to see because they are shy and nocturnal. Local people used to hunt the animal. They eat the meat, make mats from the skin and use the horns for house decoration. Deer live at savannahs in Lombok and Sumbawa Islands and can also be found in Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.
  
SOUTHEAST SULAWESI
  • Fibre Orchid (Diplocaulobium utile)
    Grows on old tree trunks, its roots grow in bunch. It has long, pointed, single leaves. The flower come out of the fold between the leaves and the stalks. In addition to the beauty of its flowers, the roots can also be used for plaited handicrafts.
  • Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis)
    The world's smallest buffalo, is endemic to Sulawesi and one of the best known Sulawesi mammals. The small-size body, only 90 cm tall at the shoulder and half the height of its mainland relative, gives it other name, the dwarf buffalo. Its body and colour are like buffalo, but its size is like a goat. The animal wanders the lowland and mountain forests, feeding on trunk-borne fruits, herbs, grasses, wild ginger leaves, and search the seaside grassland at night for salt-water. Its short and sharp horns are straight to the back, and can inflict fatal injuries on humans. Today this fauna is one of the protected species.
  

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION :

A. STAMP
  • Design :
    • Duku Fruit & Belida Fish (South Sumatra)
    • Salacca of Condet & Brahminy Kite (Jakarta)
    • Tengkawang Tungkul & Ivory/Helmeted Hornbill (West Kalimantan)
    • Ajan Kelicung & Timor Deer (West Nusa Tenggara)
    • Fibre Orchid & Lowland Anoa (Southeast Sulawesi)
  • Date of issue : 05 November 1997
  • Quantity : 1,000,000 sets
  • Paper : white unwatermarked
  • Gum : PVA
  • Printing process : combination of offset and Rotogravure
  • Size : 25,31 x 41,06 mm
  • Perforation : 13,50 x 12,75
  • Sheet composition : 20 (10x2)
  
B. FIRST DAY COVER
  • FDC + Stamps (2 pcs)
    • Quantity : 20,000 pcs
  • FDC + S/S (2pcs)
    • Quantity : 10,000 pcs
  
C. SOUVENIR SHEET
  • Design :
    • Tengkawang Tungkul & Brahminy Kite
  • Quantity : 125,000 pcs
D. STAMP PACK
  • Quantity : 10,000 pcs