Radioactive Wolves: Chernobyl’s Nuclear Wilderness
When the nuclear power plant, Chernobyl, had its melt-down in 1986, radioactive fallout spread out over many countries in Northern Europe, but mostly contaminated around 1,100 miles in the old Soviet Union, split evenly between Ukraine and Byelorussia. So dense was the radiation that all humans were evacuated, leaving it to Nature to sort out.
So, when scientists went back into this heavily forested land, they found a remarkable resurgence of life forms, both plant and animal. Still too dangerous for humans to live there for long, the ones who investigate such things found a flourishing eco-system, wherein trees, lakes, rivers, and marshes were populated by large populations of beavers, bison, fish and falcons, mostly untouched by the mistakes that can be born from excessive radiation. And on top of this prosperous food-chain are the wolves.
Tagged, sedated, examined and re-released, the scientists found remarkably little genetic changes in the mammals, the ones who might be expected to be impacted the most. They found the wolf population to be healthy and expanded, reflecting the overall fitness of the other creatures.
Directed and written by Klaus Feichtenberger, and narrated by Harry Smith, the photography and conclusions are extraordinarily interesting. With what we know about genetic mutations that are caused by cosmic rays and other particles bombarding bodies, how has there been (so far) so little damage, considering the high rates of cancer that showed up in Germans, Swedes, Russians, etc, who were in the path of the damaging clouds of radioactivity that escaped the Chernobyl disaster? No answers are forthcoming on that question in this excellent documentary, but the entire sixty-minutes does demonstrate the flourishing flora and fauna that have been allowed to expand, with the quarter-century loss of human predators.
Utterly engrossing to watch and be made to wonder about.