A normal ball game in the Los Palafitos sports complex, in the heart of the municipality of Mejillones, turned into an extraordinary lesson in applied ecology. Some children, while playing football inside the enclosure, noticed something unusual suspended on one of the play structures. As they got closer, the little athletes realized that a female hummingbird had chosen the net of a basketball hoop as the ideal home to build her nest and lay her eggs. Instead of ignoring the presence of the small bird, fortunately the young people immediately reported it to the municipal authorities.
The camp will remain closed for 60 days
The institutional machine moved with surprising speed. A team made up of officials from the Directorate of Environment, Hygiene and Ornamentation, known by the acronym Dimao, together with members of the Municipal Corporation of Sports and Recreation and scientists and experts from the Gaviotín Chico Foundation, carried out a thorough technical inspection to verify the conditions of the animal. Having established the actual presence of the nest in the mesh of the basket, the administration took a drastic but necessary decision: to decree the preventive blockade of the entire facility for 60 days in order to safeguard the delicate hatching period.
The reasons for the provision
The director of Dimao, Fernando Campos, justified the choice by explaining the details of the intervention and the origin of the report:
We received a notice that a hummingbird was nesting in the Los Palafitos field. A warning issued by children who were playing football.
The same manager then specified the duration of the protection measure:
In view of this, we have jointly decided to close the camp for 60 days. We hope for your understanding, we are waiting for it to nest peacefully and for its chicks to hatch from the egg.
Bárbara Olmedo, project manager of the Gaviotín Chico Foundation, intervened to support the ordinance from a legal point of view, recalling that the strict constraints of the Hunting Law strictly prohibit any movement of eggs or the forced movement of natural nests.
However, the temporary interruption of activities in Los Palafitos will not leave residents without recreational spaces. The Executive Secretary of the Municipal Corporation of Sports and Recreation, Iván Maturana, guaranteed that the Municipality immediately prepared several alternative locations, such as the facilities located in the Municipal Stadium and the Sports Center. The manager expressed great trust in the citizens and declared:
We believe that our users, in this case the same young people who warned of this situation, can use other venues.
He then concluded his official note by making a direct appeal to the local community:
We invite you to coordinate the use of other locations with us.
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