I’m sure you’re familiar with the TV cartoons about two characters that used to spend their lives running after each other: a coyote that used to spend a fortune on ACME traps trying to hunt down a bird that used to run around the desert at supersonic speed emitting a characteristic “beep beep” sound.
This story of never-ending pursuit may not be just the product of a cartoon storywriter’s imagination, because we have found out that both of these species actually exist and that they share the same micro-environment in the surroundings of the Dulces Nombres power plant (Mexico).
Although we haven’t witnessed the coyote chasing the road runner, we have been able to take photos of them thanks to the surveillance system installed at the plant as part of the Flora and Fauna rescue programme imposed by the Mexican environmental authorities with a view to mitigating the Environmental Impact of the project to extend the 5th unit, which will add a further 300 megawatts to the plant’s current installed capacity in 2016.
The result of the programme has been a pleasant surprise. The installation of motion-sensitive cameras has allowed us to learn about the significant biodiversity that exists in quite a reduced area. We have also been able to observe some of these neighbouring species, who live closer than we had imagined.
We are very impressed by the Discovery Channel quality of the images, because these animals are rarely sighted during the day and their presence is a reminder that it is we that have occupied their territory.
Mexico is considered to be a highly diverse country, a member of a select group of nations with the largest quantity and diversity of animals and plants: almost 70% of the diverse species to be found on earth. For some authors, this group consists of 12 countries: Mexico, Colombia, Equador, Peru, Brazil, Congo, Madagascar, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Others increase the list to 17, adding Papua New Guinea, South Africa, the United States, the Philippines and Venezuela.
Of this group, Mexico (along with the United States and Colombia) has both an Atlantic and a Pacific coastline. It is the second country worldwide with the most species of reptiles, surpassed only by Australia.
As the keepers of this rich biodiversity, we have the responsibility to look after it because each species represents a part of the heritage of mankind, and not only of Mexico.
