Litvínov, 31st May 2012 – Ornithologists recorded the birth of four chicks of the protected peregrine falcon on the chimney of heating plant T700 in Chempark Záluží. All chicks have already been properly leg-ringed. The Unipetrol group, in cooperation with ALKA Wildlife, plans to place a webcamera inside the box to monitor further nesting of the peregrine falcon online live. Two special bird boxes for the protected peregrine falcon were installed last year in Chempark Záluží.
„The successful nesting of falcons in Chempark Záluží is great news especially for our nature, since this aerial hunter disappeared from our countryside mostly due to the use of DDT. Industrial complexes with high buildings provide them not only with required vision and sufficient food in the form of pigeons, but especially significant protection from poachers due to limited access fro the public." stated Michal Porteš, an ornithologist from ALKA Wildlife.
On Wednesday 9th May, the mirror in the roof of the box allowed us to see the heads of the about two-week-old chicks for the first time. In mid-may, Chempark Záluží was visited by ornithologists to leg-ring the chicks with the help of Unipetrol RPA firefighters. Two females and two males received steel rings on one leg with the code of the national museum and colored reading rings on the second, which allow an experienced viewer to read the code and thus obtain the history of the falcon without unnecessary catching.
„The project of placing boxes on the chimney of heating plant T700 intended to support the population of the peregrine falcon in the area of Most and Litvínov. Last year, the occurrence of one couple of the peregrine falcon in Chempark Záluží, however special conditions needed to be created in the form of the installed boxes to allow them to nest," added Mikuláš Duda, the manager of the Unipetrol press department.
The peregrine falcon is very rare in the Czech Republic, belongs among critically endangered species and their number did not exceeded 58 couples in the Czech Republic. This predator species nests mostly on rocks, but due to the increasing human pressure on natural biotopes it quickly adapts to human activities. A completely new phenomenon is thus spreading in the Czech Republic from Germany – the nesting of falcons on human buildings.
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 almost 4,000 people.
Contact:
Mikuláš Duda
Press Department Manager
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520
E-mail: mikulas.duda@unipetrol.cz