Klepetan and Malena were a pair of
white storks (''Ciconia ciconia'') who became renowned in
Croatia
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, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
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for their romantic endeavors. Between 2001 and 2021, Klepetan traveled from South Africa to
Brodski Varoš
Brodski Varoš is a village in municipality of Slavonski Brod in Brod-Posavina County, Croatia. The town is notable for being the birthplace of Đuro Đaković, a prominent labor rights activist and communist revolutionary in Yugoslavia between tw ...
, Croatia, each spring to mate with Malena, who was unable to travel due to a gunshot injury. On 7 July 2021, Malena died due to old age and natural causes, leaving only Klepetan alive.
Story
Croatia is a popular nesting spot for
white storks; some 1,500 nesting pairs reside in the country, with some villages having more storks than people.
Croatian janitor Stjepan Vokić found Malena while fishing in 1993; she had been shot by hunters and was unable to fly. Vokić rescued Malena and became her caretaker. In 2001, a male stork, whom Vokić named Klepetan, began to visit Malena. Klepetan returned every spring to mate with Malena. Through a radio tracking band, it was determined that Klepetan made a month-long journey from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
to Croatia to meet up with Malena each year.
Vokić took care of their chicks since Malena was not able to hunt, building them a nest, shelter, and feeding them.
In 2017, Klepetan returned to find another bird and a newly laid egg in Malena's nest. Klepetan drove the male away and smashed his competitor's egg. The pair had 66 chicks in total.
In March 2019, a bird that may have been Klepetan showed up unusually early to Brodski Varoš. He left in April and did not return for the rest of the summer. Though reports said that Klepetan had died in August 2019, it turned out to be a different stork. Klepetan returned to Malena once again in April 2020 despite rumors of his death. Klepetan returned for the last time in April 2021.
Death of Malena
On 7 July 2021, Malena died of old age. Her death was announced by Stjepan Vokić. At the time of her death, she had been cared for by Vokić for 28 years.
She was accompanied by Klepetan at the time of her death. Vokić said he hoped Klepetan will come back to his house in 2022 despite the death of his companion.
In society
A 2017 documentary focused on the storks and Vokić. The Croatian tourism board created an animated video of Klepetan and Malena to promote Croatia. The pair of storks was the subject of a video that led to
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
adopting protections for migratory birds. The pair have been described as "Croatia's most unusual love story".
See also
*
Yaren (stork)
Yaren is a white stork known for his friendship with a fisherman, Adem Yılmaz, living in Eskikaraağaç village of Bursa, Turkey.
Since 2010, the bird leaves Africa each year during his annual migration, flies back in March to the same fisherma ...
*
List of individual birds
This is a list of well-known real birds. For famous fictional birds, see list of fictional birds.
* Águia Vitória, a bald eagle who serves as the mascot for Portuguese football club S.L. Benfica
* Albert Ross, an albatross believed to have been ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Croatian tourism video featuring the pairBBC Travel video on the pair and Vokić
Love stories
Storks
Fauna of Croatia
Modern history of Croatia
Individual storks
Animal duos