Surprising growth in wildlife populations as land and water naturalizes, though there are some mutations-

Twenty six years ago, on April 26, 1986 reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the now-defunct Soviet Union melted down and an explosion blew open the reactor. It released a cloud of radioactive materials that contaminated most of Europe, but especially the area near the reactor in what is now Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.

Two workers died in the explosion and 31 soon afterward from acute radiation poisoning. It has been estimated there might be 50,000 excess deaths due to long term radiation effects. Of course, no doubt in the years since many of these people have died from radiation and many other causes.

Of interest here are the wildlife side-effects of the total evacuation of people from 1,938,100 acres of land thought to be permanently contaminated by radiation. Over 350,000 people were removed.

Immediately afterward much of the wildlife in the area died of radiation, and a nearby 4000 acre pine forest turned red (“the Red Forest”). It, in other words died. That is a lot of radiation. Many thought the area, the exclusion zone, would be a permanent zone of desolation. Perhaps even, it would be a zone that spread.

Today, however, the area has rapidly returned to something like the original forested, riparian, and marshy condition. Though much of wildlife died, once the most intense radiation decayed the wildlife began to survive and reproduce though some species disappeared and some are not vigorous, especially some kinds of bird. In addition to the survival and some recovery of local animals, wildlife migrated into this human free area.

The area around Chernobyl had been greatly abused before the accident. Two world wars were fought on the ground there. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin built collective farms and moved in many thousands of farm workers. The nearby marshes, which were of world wide significance, were partially drained by canals and turned into wildlife barren farm fields.

In the years after the evacuation, beaver began to survive. They had been killed to keep the canals clear. The beaver dammed the canals and streams recreating the marshlands and causing spring floods to cover a much larger part of the area. Of course, the floods help flush out and spread the radiation.

There was no hunting. People were not allowed in and the deer had radiation levels many times the officially declared “safe” level. Within a decade or so, it was noticed that roe deer, fox, moose, bears, feral pigs, lynx, and hundreds of species of birds were in the area, many seeming to thrive. Soon there were reports of an animal feared in Russian folklore, the wolf.

Here is a video on the return of the wolf to the exclusion zone. It is estimated that the population is about 120. Perhaps one reason why mutations are not obvious in the larger animals is because the wolves weed out the deformed as well as the weak. See “Radioactive Wolves”. One can glean from the video that the wolves in the area may be treated better than in America where a new round of wolf persecution has been allowed to break out.

In 2008, the Ukraine reintroduced European bison to the zone. Also introduced was Przewalski’s horse, a rare horse, that is thought to be close to the world-wide extinct original horse.

Still there are those who say things are far from well in the area. There are mutations, some obvious and some not. Reptiles and amphibians were hard hit. The re-created forests lack biodiversity. The horses are in decline. Some blame poachers hunting for food. It is not known if people are that foolish, and others blame radiation harming a rare horse that was already inbreed from its brush with extinction.

Beaver populations are going down, but then it is obvious that beaver are a major food source for wolves. Were this not so the marshes would spread even more.

It is fascinating to look at the photos of the exclusion zone on Google Earth.

The restoration gives hope that life will survive and eventually thrive even if we destroy ourselves as a species.

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Update: Here is a new article on Chernobyl and wildlife. Chernobyl’s Wildlife Survivors The radioactive fallout zone has turned into a refuge. By Laura Helmuth. Slate Magazine. Posted Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, and in the same issue . . . .

Do Animals in Chernobyl’s Fallout Zone Glow? The scientific debate about Europe’s unlikeliest wildlife sanctuary. By Mary Mycio