US EditionChernobyl Zone Sees Wildlife Rebound 40 Years After Disaster
Wolves, bears and bison have returned, and scientists say the zone now supports a free-ranging population despite persistent radiation.
- Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Przewalski's horses graze in a radioactive landscape larger than Luxembourg, four decades after the worst nuclear disaster in history left the region too dangerous for humans.
- Known as "takhi" or "spirit" in Mongolia, these horses were introduced in 1998 as an experiment and possess 33 pairs of chromosomes, distinguishing them from domestic breeds.
- Lead nature scientist Denys Vyshnevskyi uses motion-sensitive cameras to track the animals, which seek shelter in abandoned Soviet-era buildings to escape harsh weather and insects.
- With human pressure gone, populations of lynx, moose, and Wolves have rebounded across Ukraine and Belarus, as nature effectively performed a "factory reset" on the contaminated land.
- Russia's 2022 invasion brought fighting toward Kyiv through the exclusion zone, with forest fires from downed drones creating new threats, said firefighting unit leader Oleksandr Polischuk.
29 Articles
29 Articles
Even decades after the Chernobyl reactor accident, wild boar meat in Saxony and Thuringia has sometimes too high radiation levels. The reason: the animals like to eat deer truffles. 40 years after the Chernobyl reactor accident, wild boars in Saxony and Thuringia are also partially radiation contaminated. Last year, in Saxony, 109 wild boars were exposed to radiation levels above the permitted limit, 64 of which were freshlings. This is shown by…
Chernobyl's radioactive landscape is a testament to nature’s resilience and survival spirit
CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — On contaminated land that is too dangerous for human life, the world's wildest horses roam free.Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Przewalski's horses — stocky, sand-colored and almost toy-like in appearance — graze in a radioactive landscape larger than Luxembourg.On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine sent radiation across Europe and forced the evacuation of entire towns, displacing tens o…
Chernobyl's radioactive landscape testament to nature’s resilience
CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — On contaminated land that is too dangerous for human life, the world’s wildest horses roam free. Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Przewalski’s horses — stocky, sand-colored and almost toy-like in appearance — graze in a radioactive landscape larger than Luxembourg. On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine sent radiation across Europe and forced the evacuation of entire towns, displacing tens …
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