Wildlife Population "Flourishing" at Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Site

Since the 1986 explosion that released radioactive particles, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been abandoned, but today a number of wild animals have been found alive here. Hence, elk, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and wolves in the site have been found by scientists, according to Cell Press .

"It's very likely that wildlife numbers at Chernobyl are much higher than they were before the accident," said Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth. "This doesn't mean radiation is good for wildlife, just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, farming, and forestry, are a lot worse."

The findings reflect on the resilience of wildlife as well as the effect of nuclear explosions as seen in Chernobyl and the recent Fukushima disaster areas, according to HNGN.

Earlier research shows that there have been major radiation effects as well as reduced wildlife populations at the Chernobyl site. Mammals are now beginning to come back. The number of mammal species is almost the same as what has been viewed in "four uncontaminated nature reserves", while the wolves near the site are seven times more than in the nature reserves.

"These results demonstrate for the first time that, regardless of potential radiation effects on individual animals, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone supports an abundant mammal community after nearly three decades of chronic radiation exposure," the researchers said.

Some helicoptering over the area has revealed that the number of elk, roe deer, and wild boar "trended upwards between one and 10 years" after the crisis. Decrease in wild boar populations at one point was identified to an illness not linked with radiation.

"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, a study co-author at the University of Georgia.

The study appeared in a recent edition of the journal Current Biology.