Wild mammals 'have returned' to Chernobyl - BBC News
Removing humans from what is now the exclusion zone around the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor has allowed wildlife to return.
This is according to a long-term census of mammals in the area, which researchers say has shown that wildlife numbers are likely to be "much higher than they were before the accident".
Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth led the study.
He stressed that this "does not mean that radiation is good for wildlife".
"It's just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, farming, and forestry, are a lot worse," Prof Smith said.
The census findings are published in the journal Current Biology.
With the help of with colleagues from the Polesky State Radioecological Reserve in Belarus, the researchers examined data from aerial surveys that counted large mammals including roe deer, elk, wild boar and wolves.
They also carried out tracking studies in the winter - using footprints in snow to calculate the numbers of different mammal species. And measuring the levels of radioactive contamination in those tracks.
"The numbers of animals we see in Chernobyl is similar to the populations in uncontaminated nature reserves," Prof Smith said.
The number of wolves was particularly striking - up to seven times higher than in nearby nature reserves of a comparable size. Prof Smith attributed this to the lack of hunting in the exclusion zone.
A 30km exclusion zone now surrounds the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. And Prof Smith says the picture from this study reveals what happens in terms of wildlife conservation "when you take humans out of the picture".
But, he said, the study did not look at the health effects of radiation on individual animals.
This is according to a long-term census of mammals in the area, which researchers say has shown that wildlife numbers are likely to be "much higher than they were before the accident".
Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth led the study.
He stressed that this "does not mean that radiation is good for wildlife".
"It's just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, farming, and forestry, are a lot worse," Prof Smith said.
The census findings are published in the journal Current Biology.
With the help of with colleagues from the Polesky State Radioecological Reserve in Belarus, the researchers examined data from aerial surveys that counted large mammals including roe deer, elk, wild boar and wolves.
They also carried out tracking studies in the winter - using footprints in snow to calculate the numbers of different mammal species. And measuring the levels of radioactive contamination in those tracks.
"The numbers of animals we see in Chernobyl is similar to the populations in uncontaminated nature reserves," Prof Smith said.
The number of wolves was particularly striking - up to seven times higher than in nearby nature reserves of a comparable size. Prof Smith attributed this to the lack of hunting in the exclusion zone.
A 30km exclusion zone now surrounds the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. And Prof Smith says the picture from this study reveals what happens in terms of wildlife conservation "when you take humans out of the picture".
But, he said, the study did not look at the health effects of radiation on individual animals.
