- Populations of large mammals show no evidence of being affected by the continuing radiation in the exclusion zone around the nuclear power plant
- Study found abundant populations of mammals - the most sensitive creatures to the impacts of radiation - in the area
Wildlife
including wolves, elk and wild boar are thriving around Chernobyl since
the area was deserted by humans after the world's worst nuclear
accident, a study shows.
Populations
of large mammals show no evidence of being affected by the continuing
radiation in the exclusion zone around the nuclear power plant in
Ukraine, close to the Belarus border, which was hit by an explosion and
fire in 1986.
Around
116,000 people were permanently evacuated from the 1,600 square miles
(4,200 sq km) exclusion zone around the power plant, with villages and
towns left to go to ruin.
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Populations of large mammals show no
evidence of being affected by the continuing radiation in the exclusion
zone around the nuclear power plant in Ukraine, close to the Belarus
border, which was hit by an explosion and fire in 1986 (lynx in
Chernobyl pictured)
Three
decades on, a scientific study published in the journal Current Biology
has found abundant populations of mammals - the most sensitive
creatures to the impacts of radiation - in the area.
Using
helicopter surveys, researchers in Belarus found that elk, roe deer,
red deer and wild boar populations within the exclusion zone are similar
to those in four uncontaminated nature reserves in the region, while
wolf numbers are seven times higher.
And
studies involving assessing tracks in new-fallen snow of roe deer, fox,
wild boar and other animals including lynx, pine marten and European
hare, found numbers were not reduced in areas with higher radiation.
The
study found said while the extremely high dose rates of radiation in
the immediate aftermath of the accident significantly hit animal health
and reproduction, they recovered quickly and there was no evidence of
long term effects on mammal populations.
Three decades on, a scientific study
published in the journal Current Biology has found abundant populations
of mammals - the most sensitive creatures to the impacts of radiation -
in the area (wolf in Chernobyl pictured)
The study found said while the
extremely high dose rates of radiation in the immediate aftermath of the
accident significantly hit animal health and reproduction, they
recovered quickly (bison in Chernobyl pictured)
While
individual animals may be affected by radiation, overall populations
have benefitted from the absence of people and hunting, forestry and
farming which are likely to have kept wildlife numbers low before the
accident, the researchers said.
Lynx
have returned to the area, having previously been absent, while wild
boar are taking advantage of abandoned farm buildings and orchards for
shelter and food.
One
of the study's authors, Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth University,
said that the nuclear accident had very severe social, psychological and
economic consequences for the local communities which had to be
evacuated.
But
he said: 'In purely environmental terms, if you take the terrible
things that happened to the human population out of the equation, as far
as we can see at this stage, the accident hasn't done serious
environmental damage.
'Indeed by accident it's created this kind of nature reserve.'
Using helicopter surveys, researchers
in Belarus found that elk, roe deer, red deer and wild boar (pictured in
Chernobyl) populations within the exclusion zone are similar to those
in four uncontaminated nature reserves
He added: 'We're not saying radiation is good for animals, but human habitation and exploitation of the landscape is worse.'
Dr
Jim Beasley, of the University of Georgia in the US, said: 'The
landscape that encompasses the exclusion zone was fragmented by human
land use, there were a lot of farms, forestry, villages and animals were
hunted for food.
'After
the accident, regardless of any potential effects of radiation that may
have existed, our data show fairly clearly populations of these large
mammals increased fairly quickly once you removed humans from the
landscape and they are currently maintained at reasonably high
abundances.'
A
similar effect is being seen around the Fukushima power plant in Japan,
which was hit by a magnitude nine earthquake and tsunami in 2011,
leading to the area being evacuated and where wild boar have
recolonised.
But
because of agriculture and population pressures, and because they are
considered a pest species, they are unlikely to be allowed to flourish
there in the long term, Professor Tom Hinton of Fukushima University
said.
The exclusion zone (pictured) measures
approximately 1,000 square miles (2,600 square km) and surrounds the
power plant. Following the fires in 2002, 2008 and 2010, people near
this region would have been exposed to an average dose of 10
microsieverts of radiation - or 1 per cent of the permitted yearly dose
Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth
University said: 'In purely environmental terms, if you take the
terrible things that happened to the human population out of the
equation, as far as we can see at this stage, the accident hasn't done
serious environmental damage.' (elk in Chernobyl pictured)
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