The general public is being encouraged to vote to make the country’s West Indian Whistling Duck the new face of one popular airline company.
American-based air carrier Frontier Airlines has launched a competition to brand the tail of their next plane with one of the native and endangered species in the destinations they serve.
Antigua and Barbuda’s West Indian Whistling Duck has been selected as one of the five finalists in the competition which is geared towards bringing awareness to the endangered species within that specific country.
Guatemala, The Bahamas, Costa Rica, Belize and Puerto Rico are the other four finalists.
“We are encouraging persons to vote, vote, vote for Antigua and Barbuda. We don’t know where we are standing in comparison to the other five countries that are in the running, but we would absolutely love persons to vote for the Whistling Duck.
“It would be such an honour to see our selected species flying across the various countries that Frontier Airlines flies to because, as you know, sustainability is a key pillar for us at the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority [ABTA] and the Ministry of Tourism,” said Maria Blackman, the ABTA’s Marketing Communications Manager.
“We actually wanted to do the Frigate Bird but the EAG suggested five other animals and then we would have selected the West Indian Whistling Duck. It is generally found in the Northern West Indies and is one of the rarest types of ducks out there and although it is scarce in other islands, in Antigua and Barbuda, we have a fairly significant population. You will find it mostly on the offshore islands like Great Bird Island, but you can also see it around mangroves and wetlands on the mainland as well,” she added.
Not only would persons be voting to have a piece of the twin-island nation be advertised across the skies but they would also gain the chance of winning a 7-day dream vacation.
These animals are nocturnal secretive ducks and among the largest and darkest of the whistling ducks.
Birdwatcher Joseph Prosper gave his commendations to the initiative.
He added that “anything that can be done to bring awareness to preserve and conserve this bird is paramount and must be done”.
The country with the most votes will automatically see their endangered animal be used as a new brand for Frontier Airlines while the other winner will be selected randomly.
Voting ends at midnight on February 14. Interested persons can log on to https://1.shortstack.com/1zRmmg?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=AntiguaandBarbudaTourismAuthority&utm_campaign=AntiguaandBarbudaTourismAuthority_tropical_tails to cast their votes.