Tragedy struck at Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 26, 1986 when a catastrophic explosion occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This major accident produced more radiation than the nuclear bomb explosion in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Around 116,000 residents fled Chernobyl and a human exclusion zone was created to ward off people from the site where extreme radiation levels can be obtained. The human exclusion zone is 4200 sq. km and has now become a sanctuary for wild animals.
Chernobyl is now synonymous to an eerie abandoned place where no signs of human life can be found. However, animals are caught running wild and free in this place where the radiation level is so high, it’ll be the death of you.
A team of scientists observed the number of wildlife inside the human exclusion zone. Surprisingly, the wildlife living inside it is flourishing. Animals such as the wild boar, the Eurasian lynx, the elk, a wolf, a roe deer, a European bison and the red deer are some of the wildlife seen to be flourishing in the abandoned area. A European brown bear believed to have disappeared from the area was caught roaming around it. Most of these animals feed on the plants grown from the contaminated ground.
Clearly, this is not the best place to hunt.
Source: RFE/RL’s Ukranian Service
Despite the increasing number of animals living in Chernobyl, these animals are tested to be highly radioactive. The radioactive presence isn’t limited to these animals in Chernobyl. Some animals such as the wild boar from Germany are said to be radioactive as well.
Source: Sergey Gaschak
That’s how severe the effect of the explosion in the power plant is.
There is a large possibility that more animals exist now than it did before the accident almost 30 years ago. We have to ask ourselves, are humans more dangerous to wildlife than any nuclear power plant accidents?
Source: The New York Times
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