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Page added on January 29, 2013
Life after Chernobyl: Sergei Gaschak’s photography from inside ‘the zone’
Sergei Gaschak’s photography offers an unparalleled glimpse at animal life inside “the zone”, the area of Ukraine and Belarus that has been officially closed off to human habitation since the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe of 1986.
Using camera traps to take photographs mechanically, as well as taking photographs personally, Gaschak has captured what few have been able to see with their own eyes – the remarkable diversity of wildlife within the zone.
One of the first rescuers on the site of the nuclear disaster, Gaschak has devoted recent years to photographing lynxes, otters, owls and other wildlife, and has even discovered the footprints of brown bears. The exclusion zone stretches for miles around the site of the reactor, and includes Pripyat, which was once a thriving Soviet town of 50,000 inhabitants but has remained a ghost town since the disaster, a time warp of perestroika-era Soviet life.
More than 300,000 people evacuated the region in the aftermath of the explosion, and only a few hundred stubborn pensioners have returned, defying government bans on settlement inside the zone.
At the time of the disaster, there were few wild animals living in the region around the nuclear plant. But as the humans moved out in the wake of the catastrophe, large mammals appeared and thrived. While the animals showed incredibly high levels of radiation, they still looked normal. There were no giant wolves or three-headed deer.
According to a book on animal and plant life in the zone, A Natural History of Chernobyl, the only abnormalities found in animals has been albino spots and deformities in barn swallows.
It was a different story with fauna, including the radioactive mushrooms that grow in the area and still cause occasional panic when they find their way into the market stalls of Ukraine and Russia.
But the beasts that roam the deserted zone are normal, save the radiation levels. Indeed, the book suggests that, paradoxically, the dirtiest radioactive site in Europe has become the continent’s biggest animal sanctuary.
6 Comments on "Life after Chernobyl: Sergei Gaschak’s photography from inside ‘the zone’"
BillT on Tue, 29th Jan 2013 3:01 pm
And we are to believe whom? Who paid for this ‘study’? The nuclear energy cabal?
“…the beasts that roam the deserted zone are normal, save the RADIATION levels…”
If anything, it shows that life will return to the earth when humans are gone, unless we kill it all off first.
Radioactive mushroom soup anyone? ^_^
GregT on Tue, 29th Jan 2013 3:16 pm
Just think, we have the potential for hundreds of these “animal sanctuaries”. When we no longer have the excess energy required to shut these reactors down and to safeguard all of the “spent” fuel storage facilities.
What a wonderful legacy to leave for future generations, if there are any.
rollin on Tue, 29th Jan 2013 7:38 pm
I like Russian fairy tales. Although watch out for the mushrooms, apparently they now have animal characteristics, being classed as fauna by this writer.
DC on Tue, 29th Jan 2013 8:22 pm
Exactly! I took had to take a minute to re-read ‘normal save the high radiation levels’. I was like..wth? Its a well known fact animals moved in after the humans moved out. The fact they are not hideous ill-tempered mutants hardly means they are ‘normal’ or healthy. If fact, if the animals knew what we know, they would likely be taking chances with us wild and dangerously unpredictable ho-mans.
I have seen some much less well publicized studies that implied all was not well within the exclusion zone, despite the relative abundance of wildlife there.
DC on Tue, 29th Jan 2013 8:35 pm
I meant to add, the unfortunate children of Fukishima also look ‘normal’ too. No 3rd eyes there either. Yet they are sick just the same. Even humans suffering from radiation sickness can look relatively ‘normal’, unless they got a full on dose wearing summer clothes @ ground zero as it were. And they reason we can tell is because well..humans are reasonably adept at telling when a fellow human is ill or not. (surprisingly!) But animals. Most of us dont have black bears or foxes as next door neighbors, nor do we chat it up with animals over the fence or invite them over for to watch a game and BS over a beer’, well…., Anyhow Unless you are a researcher that spends a lot of time with animals, you really cant tell. And this guy hardly seems a choice to judge, as interesting as the work he did is.
Harquebus on Thu, 31st Jan 2013 1:57 am
Yep, the planet will do just fine thank you very much. It is us that may not fair so well.