Public Release: 

International research team finds thriving wildlife populations in Chernobyl

University of Georgia


In the current issue of the journal Current Biology, the researchers report the site looks more like a nature preserve than a disaster zone--abundant with moose, roe deer, wild boar and wolves--nearly 30 years after the world's largest nuclear accident.


"Our data are a testament to the resiliency of wildlife when freed from direct human pressures such as habitat loss, fragmentation and persecution," said Beasley, a co-author on the study. "The multi-year data clearly show that a multitude of wildlife species are abundant throughout the zone, regardless of the level of radiation contamination."

"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," said Jim Smith, a professor of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. and the team's coordinator.



The study's lead author, Tatiana Deryabina, a wildlife ecologist at Polessye State Radioecological Reserve in Belarus, has been "working, studying and taking photos of the wonderful wildlife in the Chernobyl area for over 20 years, and I am very pleased our work is reaching an international scientific audience."



