Nature
thrives in Chernobyl, site of worst nuclear disaster
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[October 06, 2015]
By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - - Some 30 years
after the world's worst nuclear accident blasted radiation across
Chernobyl, the site has evolved from a disaster zone into a nature
reserve, teeming with elk, deer and wolves, scientists said on Monday.
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The remarkable turnaround in the area, which was declared a
permanent no-go zone for people after the accident in 1986, suggests
radiation contamination is not hindering wildlife from breeding and
thriving, but underscores the negative impact humans have on
populations of wild mammals.
"When humans are removed, nature flourishes - even in the wake of
the world's worst nuclear accident," said Jim Smith, a specialist in
earth and environmental sciences at Britain's University of
Portsmouth. "It's very likely that wildlife numbers at Chernobyl are
now much higher than they were before the accident."
After a fire and explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in
1986 threw clouds of radioactive particles into the air, thousands
of people left the area, never to return.
Smith and co-researchers took the opportunity to see what happens to
wildlife in an area where contamination is heavy but people are
largely absent.
Earlier studies in the 4,200 square kilometer (1,600 square miles)
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone showed major radiation effects and
pronounced reductions in wildlife populations.
But new evidence, based on long-term census data, shows that mammal
populations have bounced back.
The study found a relative abundance of elk, roe deer, red deer and
wild boar -- with population rates similar to those found in four
designated, and uncontaminated, nature reserves in the region. The
number of wolves living in and around the Chernobyl site is more
than seven times greater than can be found in comparable nature
reserves.
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And helicopter survey data also reveal rising trends in the
abundance of elk, roe deer, and wild boar from 1 to 10 years after
the accident.
"These unique data showing a wide range of animals thriving within
miles of a major nuclear accident illustrate the resilience of
wildlife populations when freed from the pressures of human
habitation," said Jim Beasley of the University of Georgia in the
United States, who co-led the work.
The results, published in the journal Current Biology, may also hold
lessons for understanding the potential long-term impact on wildlife
of the more recent Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the
researchers said.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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