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Wildlife A Chernobyl, Ukraine story

Agriculture  / 
Wildlife
  1. Chernobyl, Ukraine
  2. Wildlife
Description

The exclusion zone is not officially a wildlife preserve, but with virtually no human intervention in the 1,600-square-mile zone since the accident, wildlife is prospering. Studies with automated cameras have spotted bison, boars, wild horses, beavers, badgers, red foxes, deer, moose, and wolves. Gray wolves are especially abundant. The density of gray wolves there is higher than it is even in Yellowstone National Park.

If there are radiation effects on animal populations in the exclusion zone, they are overshadowed by the lack of human intervention in the zone. In short, animals are free to thrive when there are no humans hunting them, building on the land, or hitting them with cars.

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Location

Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

July 26, 1992, Landsat 4 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

July 26, 1992, Landsat 4 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

June 5, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

June 5, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Aug. 11, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Aug. 11, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
July 26, 1992, Landsat 4 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
June 5, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
Aug. 11, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine

Chernobyl, Ukraine Additional Imagery & Stories

Abandonment
Abandonment

Near the common borders of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lies near the Pripyat River at the northwestern end of a co...

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Cooling Pond
Cooling Pond

The Landsat 5 image acquired before April 26 shows heated water being pumped from the plant into the adjacent cooling pond and circulating countercloc...

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New Safe Confinement
New Safe Confinement

A temporary structure was quickly built over reactor number 4 to contain radioactive material. A more permanent solution was needed. About two decades...

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Reactor Number 4
Reactor Number 4

A closer look at the site of the power plant in the 1986 image shows a red spot near the location of reactor number 4. The high brightness of those...

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