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+--- Thread: Chernobyl's exclusion zone: a lesson in rewilding (/showthread.php?tid=7969)
Chernobyl's exclusion zone: a lesson in rewilding - Catherine - 06-06-2024
The Chernobyl exclusion zone is the area around the reactor that is off limits because of its radiation levels. The area is 1750 square miles.
It has been abandoned by humans since the 1986 reactor meltdown. The dead trees near the reactor have still not decayed because bacteria and fungus cannot live at such high radiation levels. The land outside of that area has thrived. It has completely rewilded much faster than expected. Plants have done well. Animals are flourishing.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/the-wildlife-that-unlike-us-humans-survives-and-thrives-in-chernobyl/ss-BB1igZxt?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=082d4e941e35419aa741ce7fee30cd98&ei=114#image=12
Animals of all species are doing very well. Yes there were higher mutation levels in the offspring, but the survivors are strong and healthy.
There is an actual herd of Przewalski's horses. Wolves have thrived. Even abandoned dogs and cats have done well. Some dogs were rescued and adopted, but the ones left behind are fine. This is a real lesson in what happens when humans leave an area. Nature is resilient. Even a dead zone around a nuclear accident can be reclaimed by nature.