Litvínov, May 16, 2016 – Falcon couple nesting in Chempark Záluží in the fifth consecutive year brought their young again. The falcon chicks hatched in the nest in the middle of Unipetrol chemical complex at the end of April. The project of peregrine falcon nesting runs under cooperation with Alka Wildlife association.

„The age of the babies whose father is unringed and mother is from Germany, is estimated at 18 days, their remexes already started growing. We put colour rings on for their monitoring in the future,“ Michal Porteš from Alka Wildlife association confirms their long-awaited hatching. "There is no risk of disturbance from humans or predators while pigeons living here provide enough food,” says the ornithologist.

Unipetrol cooperates with Alka Wildlife association on a long-term basis. „We first saw the peregrine falcon in Chempark Záluží already in 2011. Since then we have managed to breed 18 babies thanks to two special nesting boxes which we installed together, “ says Mikuláš Duda, Press Department Manager. „Every year we enable ornithologists to ring the chicks and their further observation. We are also considering the possible extension of the project to the refinery in Kralupy,” adds Mikuláš Duda.

The ringing is happening for ornithologists to know more details about the movement of predators who overcome great distances.  Hatched chicks receive two rings on the leg, yellow for their reading and classic steel so that they can be identified in the future. 

In the Czech Republic, there are currently ca. 70 pairs of peregrine falcons. 15 years ago there were only several couples here and this species was even considered to be completely extinct.

Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a cosmopolitan Falconidae predator. Females are up to one third larger than males. It has long pointed wings and a short tail. The most striking thing about the falcon’s color is its characteristic dark “beard” on white face.  The wingspan of peregrine falcon is 85 - 115 cm, body length of 35 – 50 cm. Males weighed from 500 g to 750 g, females then 910 to 1500 g. Its pray consists mainly of birds up to the size of ducks, which they kill by a sharp strike during the attack in flight.

The mission of the nonprofit ALKA Wildlife, o.p.s. is to contribute with their work against the ever more widespread extinctions of species. The association has been collaborating constantly on various projects supporting protection of endangered species.

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UNIPETROL, a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the UNIPETROL Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs 3800 people.