The wounds left by humans on animals living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone have been healed by nature

33 years ago, the biggest nuclear accident in history took place: the explosion of reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl plant, in the former Soviet Union, now Ukraine. As a result, an area of ​​200,000 km² was contaminated with radioactive particles. Nowadays, there are almost no people living within 30 km of the nuclear power plant, as the population has been permanently evacuated.

However, free of human presence, the exclusion zone around the buildings (and made up of pastures and forests) became a space frequented by several wild animals that had not been seen for a long time. In today’s post, we will talk about them.

O incredible.club hopes that humanity has learned the lesson from this terrible accident and that it will do everything possible to prevent something like this from happening again. As nature struggles to find its way, we wanted to take a look at the animals that were affected by the tragedy.

With the 1986 explosion, the pine forest near the station received huge doses of radiation. The impact was so strong that some trees died and others acquired a reddish hue. The place began to be called the ‘Red Forest’ precisely because of this. In recent years, the situation seems to have improved and she started to show signs of life.

In 1998, 20 of Przewalski’s horses were taken into the exclusion zone. Today, there are more than 100 of these animals on site. They live in groups, usually composed of many females and young and one male. It has already happened that some male ‘kidnaps’ domestic mares from people who live illegally in Pripyat, the ghost town.

The main predator in the area is the European lynx. This big cat is not afraid of Chernobyl and does not need to hide because there are no armed people in the region. They walk calmly during the day and go through even the most contaminated areas.

In 1987, there were 3 packs of wolves living in Chernobyl; today, there are 7. Each of them has 10 animals, all strong and healthy. They have learned to use the man-made landscape for their own benefit and hunt in the destroyed streets of Pripyat.

There was no funding of any scientific research at Chernobyl. All observations are carried out by activists, usually environmentalists and biologists. Sergey Gashchak, for example, is an employee of the International Laboratory of Radioecology at the Chernobyl Center. He installed some cameras at the site with his own pocket money.

In 2017, within the area 30 km from the nuclear power plant, the Chernobyl Radiation and Ecology Biosphere Reserve was created. In it, it is possible to observe birds and other animals that seemed to have disappeared forever.

Let’s see some examples that were recorded by Sergey’s cameras and other researchers.

The raccoon dog was brought to the site from the former Soviet Union. Nowadays, there are many of them living in the Chernobyl region.

Moose roam the destroyed area of ​​Chernobyl and their only predators are wolves. Although European buffalo (also called bison) were exterminated by man in the 19th century, some have been brought to the site. Authorities believed they were all dead, but recently scientists found footprints and concluded that they too live in the Pripyat region — the ghost town near the old nuclear power plant.

These animals are endangered and finding them in this region can be considered a very lucky stroke.

This rodent looks like a cross between a squirrel and a mouse.🇧🇷 It is also on the endangered list, moves quickly between trees and eats grass. Recently, a local worker took an image of one specimen and it was named ‘Chernobyl Lemur’.

In the first few years after the accident, large numbers of wild boars moved into the exclusion zone. Unfortunately, today there are not so many specimens, as the wolves have reduced their population.

Foxes are not afraid of people and even eat food from the hands of some visitors. Simon, a friendly fox, even has a Facebook account, loves to take pictures and always waits for sandwiches from people.

In theory, river otters live across Europe. In reality, these animals are being exterminated by humans. That is why in some areas they already appear as endangered. On the territory of Pripyat, they do not suffer from hunters and their main food, a type of fish, is still abundant.

One Brown bear was captured through the lens of a camera trap as he crossed an abandoned road near Chernobyl. It took scientists a long time to find this animal, as it hides very well. Fortunately, today we know that they live in the exclusion zone.

The aluco is also known as the bush owl. In general, it is not easy to find it because it hides very well. In Pripyat, their nests are located in open places.

In Chernobyl it is possible to find this rare bat that we see in the image. In the region, there are 14 types of bats, but not all of them are as strange as the one in the photo.

In the Chernobyl nuclear energy cooling tank, several species of fish live. After the accident, the ecosystem received enormous amounts of radiation, which affected animals such as catfish. Nowadays, radiation contamination has naturally decreased and these gigantic catfishes measure 1.5 to 2 meters. The giant fish seem to be used to waiting for staff and tourists to bring them bread.

About 300 dogs live in the Pripyat region. They are descendants of pets that were abandoned by people who hurriedly fled the scene after the catastrophe. Of course, people didn’t abandon animals willingly. They were forbidden to take the dogs because of the fallout. Witnesses claim that it was possible to hear the cries of dogs as people boarded evacuation buses.

Nowadays, these animals have to survive in the wild conditions of the region. Dogs living near checkpoints end up being fed by local officials. However, the life expectancy of dogs in the region is about 6 or 7 years.

Foundation Volunteers clean future try to contribute to an improvement in the lives of these dogs with vaccines. According to the foundation, some animals have started to relate to wolves, but the consequences of this relationship are still very difficult to predict.

Pripyat is a model of life without humans. Apparently, nature is finding a natural way after the accident. Wild animals and trees are destroying the remains of civilization and in a few decades there will be no trace of human activity there. For specialists, this is an excellent opportunity to study rare species of animals and to show us humans that we are not the kings of nature.

Some of these images left us quite impressed. What did you think of the story? Share your opinion in the comments.