BBC Film Documentary About Croatia’s Lovebirds Klepetan & Malena

Klepetan and Malena’s story going out to the world via the BBC (photo credit: Ivica Galović/PIXSELL)

British public service broadcaster the BBC will next week air a documentary film about the remarkable love story of two long-legged birds from eastern Croatia – Malena and Klepetan.

The documentary – A Long Distance Love Affair for Storks – will premiere on the BBC on Monday 24 April 2017 at 8 pm as part of the series Nature’s Weirdest Events.

For the past three months, the BBC and Croatia’s public broadcaster HRT have been working together on the documentary.

The love story of storks Klepetan and Malena has captured the hearts of many in Croatia and abroad for 15 years now. The two storks made their nest on a chimney in Brodski Varos in eastern Croatia more than two decades ago.

The pair would fly together until poachers injured Malena’s wing which left her flying capabilities restricted.

Klepetan & Malena

With storks being a migrating bird, this caused a problem. Every winter for the last 15 years Klepetan would leave Croatia and make his way more than 13,000 km to the warmer climates of Africa.

Without fail, however, Klepetan has always managed somehow to negotiate his return to Croatia in the spring when the weather warms up to be reunited with Malena.

This year hope had been given up for Klepetan who failed to arrive two weeks after his expected arrival. However, the two lovebirds have been reunited when he finally made his return.