After a nuclear power plant exploded in 2011 in Fukushima, Japan, the area has become a place for wildlife, American and Japanese researchers write in the scientific journal Journal of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
In 2011, a tsunami caused a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. More than 160,000 people had to leave their homes and the first were only allowed to return around April 2019. The lack of people in the evacuation zone of Fukushima gave animals room for years to thrive.
Almost ten years later it appears that more than twenty species of animals occur in large numbers in the area, such as pheasants, hares, macaques and wild boars.
According to the researchers, animals such as wild boar are often restricted in their freedom by humans, because they can cause a lot of damage to nature reserves. The fact that they are again common in Fukushima shows that the evacuations caused these animals to spread again.
The goat-like Japanese forest gems show itself more in rural areas where more people occur. They may be trying to avoid the growing wild boar population, the researchers think.
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A Japanese forest gems in a forest in Fukushima. (Photo: UGA)
106 cameras took more than 250,000 photos
Scientists distributed 106 cameras in three areas in Fukushima. Over 267,000 photos were taken in four months, which were then analyzed.
The presence of the animals in evacuated areas was compared with the populations in non-evacuated areas, after which researchers could conclude that the disappearance of people from the area resulted in an increase in animal populations.
Different amounts of radiation had little influence on how many animals lived in an area. The difference was mainly caused by the type of terrain – Fukushima varies from mountain to coastal area – its height and the presence of people.
This research is the first to look at the animal populations in the Japanese area, but does not consider the health of the animals.
Scientists also examined animals in Chernobyl
Some of the researchers involved published a study on animals in four years ago Chernobyl. After the 1986 nuclear disaster, this area in Ukraine has also become a breeding ground for wild predators.
This similar investigation showed that large numbers of predators such as gray wolves and raccoon dogs have been found in Chernobyl since the explosion at the nuclear power plant. This study also did not look at the health of the animals.
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A raven stretches its wings on a warning sign in Chernobyl. (Photo: Reuters)
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