The World's Most Ironic Wildlife Sanctuary

Wildlife is flourishing at Chernobyl -- because no humans live there.

The birds that nest in the charred shell of the reactor, the lynx and bear and wild boar, are "radioactive - too radioactive for humans to eat safely - but otherwise healthy." They have already adapted to be radiation-resistant! Have they stumbled on a brilliant new defense against human predation?

Will the radiation spur them to evolve, perhaps even into new intelligent lifeforms? Imagine a new Russian empire of bears.

Is this what the world will look like when we get through with it?

Hat tip to Ann Althouse, who remarks, "Does this story make you ashamed of what human beings have done to the world? For the animals, a nuclear disaster is preferable to life with us."

Comments

[Tom Strong]

It doesn't make me ashamed - but it is a cool and fascinating story.

[Dave]

Actually, this is the rare example of a wildlife sanctuary that *doesn't* strike me as ironic. Usually, what we call wildlife sanctuaries are really more for humans, and - sadly - human recreational interests tend to have a negative impact on some of the most vulnerable wildlife populations, such as snakes and turtles. Hunting is usually an essential short-term management tool (and an activity I strongly support), but an entrenched hunting constituency will almost invariably lobby against the reintroduction of top carnivores necessary for top-down trophic regulation.