At site of world’s worst nuclear disaster, the animals have returned

They continued to say: “Several previous studies of the Chernobyl exclusion zone indicated major radiation effects and pronounced reductions in wildlife populations at dose rates well below those thought to cause significant impacts”.

Wildlife in the area surrounding Chernobyl seems to be thriving in the radiation-contaminated exclusion zone, according to a new study.

“It’s just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, farming, and forestry, are a lot worse”, Prof Smith said.

The researchers used a combination of field surveys and computer models to estimate the density of animal numbers throughout the exclusion zone.

A 30km exclusion zone now surrounds the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

“There is no evidence that the animals of Chernobyl are achieving the levels of population growth that are frequently seen in other regions where they are protected from predation or hunting”, Tim Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, told BBC News.

Wild boar have thrived in the exclusion zone. “Additionally, our earlier helicopter survey data show rising trends in elk, roe deer and wild boar abundances from one to ten years post-accident”. There have been many laboratory experiments on the effects of radiation on animals and plants but these are usually quite short term. No measure of radiation exposure that the animals around Chernobyl are exposed to at present was included in the study.

Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth led the study. The researchers claim that animals are more resilient to the effects of a nuclear disaster than they are to the behaviors of humans.

Following the disaster, more than 116,000 local residents were evacuated from the zone around Chernobyl, which covers a few 4,200 square kilometres (1,622 square miles), with only key construction workers and nuclear staff allowed into the site to safeguard the stricken reactors.

A team of global researchers, including James Beasley, assistant professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Warnell School Forestry and Natural Resources, has discovered abundant populations of wildlife at Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear accident that released radioactive particles into the environment and forced a massive evacuation of the human population.

She said: “I’ve been working, studying and taking photos of the wonderful wildlife in the Chernobyl area for over 20 years and am very pleased our work is reaching an global scientific audience”.