Chernobyl nuclear disaster site becomes a wildlife area, including over a hundred wolves
What happens to nature after a nuclear accident? And how does wildlife deal with the world it inherits after human inhabitants have fled?
In 1986 a nuclear meltdown at the infamous Chernobyl power plant in present-day Ukraine left miles of land in radioactive ruins. Residents living in areas most contaminated by the disaster were evacuated and relocated by government order, and a no-man's land of our own making was left to its own devices.
In the ensuing 25 years, forests, marshes, fields and rivers reclaimed the land, reversing the effects of hundreds of years of human development. And surprisingly, this exclusion zone, or "dead zone," has become a kind of post-nuclear Eden, populated by beaver and bison, horses and birds, fish and falcons -- and ruled by wolves.
Access to the zone is now permitted, at least on a limited basis, and scientists are monitoring the surviving wildlife in the area, trying to learn how the various species are coping with the invisible blight of radiation. As the top predators in this new wilderness, wolves best reflect the condition of the entire ecosystem because if the wolves are doing well, the populations of their prey must also be doing well. Accordingly, a key long-term study of the wolves has been initiated to determine their health, their range, and their numbers.
Radioactive Wolves examines the state of wildlife populations in Chernobyl's exclusion zone, an area that, to this day, remains too radioactive for human habitation.
What happens to nature after a nuclear accident? And how does wildlife deal with the world it inherits after human inhabitants have fled?
In 1986 a nuclear meltdown at the infamous Chernobyl power plant in present-day Ukraine left miles of land in radioactive ruins. Residents living in areas most contaminated by the disaster were evacuated and relocated by government order, and a no-man's land of our own making was left to its own devices.
In the ensuing 25 years, forests, marshes, fields and rivers reclaimed the land, reversing the effects of hundreds of years of human development. And surprisingly, this exclusion zone, or "dead zone," has become a kind of post-nuclear Eden, populated by beaver and bison, horses and birds, fish and falcons -- and ruled by wolves.
Access to the zone is now permitted, at least on a limited basis, and scientists are monitoring the surviving wildlife in the area, trying to learn how the various species are coping with the invisible blight of radiation. As the top predators in this new wilderness, wolves best reflect the condition of the entire ecosystem because if the wolves are doing well, the populations of their prey must also be doing well. Accordingly, a key long-term study of the wolves has been initiated to determine their health, their range, and their numbers.
Radioactive Wolves examines the state of wildlife populations in Chernobyl's exclusion zone, an area that, to this day, remains too radioactive for human habitation.
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all nuclear any thing needs to be stopped
I say we turn the US over to radioactive wolves, and leave them alone.
it could be our future,just like the movie life after earth
Slightly dubious methods of capture (what if the male wolfs paw was not okay and damaged?) and not sure they need to pluck fresh hair from cubs when the den will be full of it. So he may be a hunter turned protector but someone needs to teach him littering is bad for the environment too! 29.43, box thrown out the helicopter lol!
Blair Frazer Smith
What a wonderful wtory for these animals, especially wolves.. love wolves..
Life on earth will go on....the human species may disappear but earth will not...and life will find a way minus the most destructive species on earth...the human species.