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30 Photos Of Nature Winning The Battle Against Civilization In The Exclusion Zone Around Chernobyl
The world's worst nuclear energy disaster took place at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine back in 1986, and its effects are still being felt today. A 30-km (19-mile) exclusion zone is in place around the Chernobyl disaster site, which is still highly contaminated with the radiation released following the accident.
While not fit for human habitation, wildlife has made a remarkable comeback in the exclusion zone; there are said to be more than 60 different types of mammals living there including wild boar and elk. Wolves are doing especially well, with a population that is seven times the size of wolf populations in neighboring reserves.
Far from becoming the barren wasteland that many predicted after the catastrophic nuclear explosion the area has, in the absence of humans, become host to a great biodiversity. It really shows the power of nature to recover when left alone without us around to get in the way of things!
Proof of this can be seen in this fascinating list compiled by Bored Panda. Marvel at the way that grey concrete blocks are gradually giving way to greenery, as plants and trees slowly engulf the urban decay of the former Soviet town. You can also meet some of the local wildlife celebrities, who are looking remarkably healthy considering the highly contaminated land around them.
So scroll down below to see Mother Nature majestically reclaiming her territory, and let us know what you think about these interesting photos in the comments!
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#1
I Finally Met The Famous Pripyat Fox Simon
Han 6 years ago (edited)
This is such a trip, but my friends named this fox on 18/01/17! He has run tours there for awhile now and there's a post in his Instagram about going there and meeting the fox and then naming it Simon. I just sent him a screenshot of this, he'll be stoked. :)
Han 6 years ago
Hahaha, I have an update. Apparently all foxes there are called Simon!! It's a long running joke, one that my friend would definitely keep going knowing him. Lol XD
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Johanna Muukkonen 6 years ago
There are several foxes and the name is Simeon. The people can't tell them apart so they call them all Simeon.
Jeny Kennedy 6 years ago
That fox looks fine. He looks like he's shedding his undercoat and other than that, looks like every other fox I've seen. I live in Alaska and this is just what foxes look like.
Load More Replies...The accident at Chernobyl was caused by human error. According to Reuters, facility operators, in violation of safety regulations, had switched off important control systems at the plant’s reactor number four and allowed it to reach unstable, low-power conditions.
A power surge led to a series of blasts, at 1.24 a.m., which blew off the reactor’s heavy steel and concrete lid and sent a cloud of radioactive dust billowing across northern and western Europe, reaching as far as the eastern United States. The cloud of radioactive strontium, caesium and plutonium affected mainly Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, as well as parts of Russia and Europe.
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#2
Meet Simon, The Red Fox Of The Radioactive Red Forest
SirPatTheCat 6 years ago
....uhh is that the same fox? Do they grow winter coats? Does Simon just refer to all red foxes seen in the area? Many questions...
Jeny Kennedy 6 years ago
They have "undercoats" that shed in the summer. So it's common to see them looking thin and kinda rough when they loose it before they start growing a new one. :)
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#3
Tree Growing On The 8th Floor
Shull GaRett 6 years ago (edited)
It was vacant so the tree moved in ;) And the view is amaaazing! :D
The Chernobyl Forum, a group of eight U.N. agencies, and the governments of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, have estimated the death toll at only a few thousand as a result of the explosion.
U.N. agencies have said some 4,000 people will die in total because of radiation exposure.
However, the environmental group Greenpeace puts the eventual death toll far higher than official estimates, with up to 93,000 extra cancer deaths worldwide, while the Chernobyl Union of Ukraine, a non-government body, estimates the present death toll from the disaster at almost 734,000.
#4
Today Our Team Came Across The Burial Site Of A Beloved Pet In Chernobyl
Donna Rakowiecki 6 years ago
I would think that there a few people living inside the exclusion zone. That feed the cats now and then. Perhaps people on the run and hiding out or little old lady who simply wouldn't leave. Or perhaps live just over the boundary and they check on things now and then
Ksenia M 6 years ago
there have been reports of refugees from war-torn countries living right on the edge of the exclusion zone and over a 100 people living inside, most of them locals who have refused ti move. Though technically that is illegal.
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John Sutton 6 years ago
"DATELINE: CHERNOBYL. Radioactive undead kitty terrorizes countryside. Film at 11:00."
#5
Nature Taking Over Pripyat. What Is The Cost Of Lies?
Väinö-Oskari Astala 6 years ago
"Look at my works, ye mighty, and despair" -Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818
Quentin РЯЕUVOТ 6 years ago
This is strange picture ? Fake ? The reactor has now à dome... where are all these building ?
Edith Wild 6 years ago
at least we get to observe the grinding down of a city. We'll know how long it will take.
The disaster was the object of a cover-up by secretive Soviet authorities who did not immediately admit to the explosion.
Eventually, a make-shift cover — the ‘Sarcophagus’ — was built, in the six months after the explosion. It covers the stricken reactor to protect the environment from radiation for at least 30 years. This has now developed cracks, triggering an international effort to fund a new encasement. Radioactive nuclear fuel is still being removed from the plant today.
#6
Przewalski's Horses
A group of Przewalski's horses grazing in the Chernobyl Exclusion zone. In the background the New Safe Confinement ("Sarcophagus 2") can be seen.
Rameka 6 years ago
The horses are settled by the government to eat the withered grass which would be burn in the summer and spread again the radioactive dust in the atmosphere.
Jacqueline Conway 6 years ago
Wow: does anything horrible happen to the horses as a result ?
Load More Replies... Laura Emmer 6 years ago
The Przewalski's horse was extinct in the wild. But thankfully there were enough in zoos that through a careful breeding program, herds of horses were able to be reintroduced in the wild. Yay Zoos!
Grumble O'Pug 6 years ago
The Przwalski's were derived from breeding back to get a horse that is akin to the original. Sadly they went extinct. What is fascinating is that they were able to be recreated.
Christine Blackburne-Kowal 6 years ago
These types of horses are the closest living species to the ancestors of the modern day horse. In other words, the look like pre-approval historic horses
Susan Wolf 6 years ago
One of the world's most endangered species and they put in the the most dangerous places in the world? WTF???
F. H. 6 years ago
It's not the world's most dangerous place at all. It's a place unfit for human habitation. Animals don't know anything about cancer rates and likelyhood of sterility or mutation. If they are able to get enough healthy offspring, their population might be fine the the effects of radiation.
Load More Replies... #7
An Old Phone Box Hidden Away In The Undergrowth In Pripyat. Unused Since 1986
Daniela-Iulia Balaciu 6 years ago
strangely nice idea, an phone-box in the middle of nowhere, maybe the forest spirits needs to make calls time to time
Juan Alcorta 6 years ago
I love the idea! Just imagine being lost in the forest and you come around a life-saving phone boot!
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But how have plants and animals survived and flourished despite the high levels of radiation? It is true, radiation does have real, harmful effects on flora and fauna, and may shorten the lives of individual plants and animals. But if life-sustaining resources are in abundant enough supply and burdens are not fatal, then life will flourish.
According to Science Alert, the burden brought by radiation at Chernobyl is less severe than the benefits reaped from humans leaving the area. The Chernobyl exclusion zone is now "essentially one of Europe's largest nature preserves, the ecosystem supports more life than before, even if each individual cycle of that life lasts a little less."
"In a way, the Chernobyl disaster reveals the true extent of our environmental impact on the planet. Harmful as it was, the nuclear accident was far less destructive to the local ecosystem than we were. In driving ourselves away from the area, we have created space for nature to return."
#8
Nature Wins The Battle Against Civilization
Final score:
72points
#9
30 Years Later, Pripyat Has Turned Into A Sort Of Nature Reserve
#10
Overgrown House In Zalissya (Village Inside Chernobyl Exclusion Zone)
Xutong Hei 5 years ago
This must be spring because only spring would bring such a bright green color
#11
Nature Wins The Battle Against Civilization
Final score:
55points
Magpie 6 years ago
For thirty years I would expect a lot more damage to the wooden window frames. "damage" meaning growth of moss / ivy / weeds.
Crochet lady 6 years ago
Just because it's not evident in this one photo doesn't mean it's not happening.
Load More Replies... #12
The Buildings In Pripyat Have Not Received Maintenance For More Than 30 Years, Here In The Hospital The Dereliction Is Obvious
#13
Pripyat Hospital
A very huge building in Pripyat. In the basement lies the clothes of firemen who where first to the accident site after the meltdown. The room with the clothes is one of the most radioactive spots in the whole exclusion zone
#14
Chernobyl - Children's Camp "Emerald"
#15
Chernobyl Bus Station
#16
May 2019
Catlady6000 6 years ago
My favorite roses. These are now considered heritage roses, and the plants can be fairly expensive. Very sweet smell. And appearing free and beautiful in Chernobyl
#17
Pripyat Is No Longer The Ghost Town What It Was. Now It Is Consumed By The Forest And Plants. Nature Persistently Takes It Back
#18
Pripyat - River Boat
Catlady6000 6 years ago
Might have been something like a "bo-tel" a boat that doubles as a hotel, either on water or dry docked.
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#19
Pripyat - The Ghost City Crowned By Sweet Silence And Beautiful Wild Nature
#20
Duga Radar
Alexandru Bucur 6 years ago
This one is a problem, because it's a steel lattice structure that has been exposed tot he elements without maintenance for the last 33 years and been recently the target of scrap scavengers. It's only a matter of time until some critical joint will be corroded enough to give way (especially if some other bits have been haphazardly harvested) and then it will all come down suddenly, without warning. With increased tourist activity in the Zone, including people climbing the structure, I fear it's quite possible someone might be injured or killed. So please, if you go to Chernobyl... stay away from this thing, or at least be aware it might collapse. I know what I'm talking about, I'm an architect and I nearly fell 10m to my death while visiting an abandoned prison when the walkway I was on collapsed suddenly, even though I had walked on it 5 minutes earlier and it seemed fine.
Crochet lady 6 years ago
Anyone treating this area as a tourist excursion needs their head examined. The world can do without another selfie.
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#21
Hospital
Luca Giordano 6 years ago
Wow! What an incredibly first world reaction to this picture. the safety crib would not have helped much with the fallout from the nuclear disaster. You see a crib in a post nuclear apocalyptic area and what you notice is the absence of safety measures we are used to our extremely sterile super entitled western world? hahaha.
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#23
Pripyat
#24
Pripyat - Palace Of Culture "Energetik"
#25
Visited Chernobyl. The Overgrown Amusement Park Of Pripyat!
Anne 6 years ago
No humans to make a mess (and before, I am not sure if they had messy things, like plastic wrappers etc. Paper will have been gone by now.)
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#27
Residence Hall For The Plant Workers
#29
Overgrown Rails. Nature Takes Everything Back
Josey Griffin 6 years ago
Glad nature has reclaimed this place. It all looks like garden art. Now animals have some shelter.
Doris Peressin 6 years ago
You think we should take care of Nature. Wrong! We should be humble and defend ourselves from Nature. Nature will always prevail!
Anne 6 years ago
Couple months not mowing my back yard and it's this state :)
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#30
Looking At The Chernobyl Power Plant From Pripyat
#31
Abandoned House In A Village Close To Chernobyl
#34
Four Floor Up In A School Building And The Wild Life Is Taking Over
#35
Nature Is Slowly Taking Back The Derelict Buildings In This Eerie Ghost Town
With the lack of people, nature has reclaimed the city. Foxes, roe deer, birds of prey, wild horses, and even wolves can now be found living throughout the dense forests of Chernobyl.
#36
Ghost City Pripyat Against The Background Of A New Confinement Over The Fourth Nuclear Power Unit Of The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
#38
Pripyat
miaow 6 years ago
Why are the trees lit!! They're so bright and optimistic!! ~positively glowing~
Dorothy Parker 6 years ago
Um, that would be Autumn, and sun shining through a break in the clouds make certain areas glow.
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#39
Pripyat School
#40
Ghost Town Where Nature Took Over
#43
Ferris Wheel
The Pripyat amusement park was to be opened on May 1, 1986, in time for the May Day celebrations but the plans were interrupted when on April 26 the Chernobyl disaster occurred a few kilometers away. The park was opened for a couple of hours on April 27 to keep the city people entertained before the announcement to evacuate the city was made. Today, the park, and in particular the Ferris wheel, are a symbol of the Chernobyl disaster.
#45
Room For Newborns
#47
WWII-Era Russian Isu-152 Assault Gun Abandoned In Chernobyl
#52
Pripyat Town Square
Rain79 6 years ago
Makes sense to me, that after such a massive amount of radiation, nature might not have taken over immediately but it might have taken some time for the plants to recover and be able to grow and produce viable seeds again that then could be carried away by wind and recovered animal populations to take over the town.
Catlady6000 6 years ago
I am curious what you are basing your comments on? Is there another city or area that has been abandoned for a few decades that you have personal experience observing? I would like to know about it and if anyone can vist
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#54
Meanwhile In Chernobyl Zone
Paul Mitchell 6 years ago
I guess there are/were some radioactive spare parts running around on other Ladas...
#55
Novarka And The 4th Reactor As Seen From Pripyat
#60
On Top Of The Apartment Complex
#63
Pripyat Amusement Park
Add New Image
What do you think ?
NWB 6 years ago
I always thought growing up after a nuclear disaster nothing would grow. It still amazes me the life that has taken over.
Daria B 6 years ago
Your comment reminded me of a scene in Hadashi no Gen (a film about the bombing of Hiroshima based on the original manga of a survivor), when the main character witnesses rice starting to grow again and, with his friend, they are happily celebrating the discovery (they're little kids, btw) saying something like "it was said the rice wouldn't grow for years to come".
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Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 6 years ago
If there's a wall to be built, should be round here, to avoid animals get affected by radiation. Influencers... not much concerned about them.
Edgar Rops 6 years ago
Kind of optimistic, in a creepy way. shows how quickly, by nature's standards, many traces of human presence can be removed.
Freya the Wanderer 6 years ago
If you ever caught "Life After People," Pripiyat featured prominently in showing how Nature would take back over once humans vanished.
Magpie 6 years ago
I don't know how cold that area of the world gets. But it looks like a lot less growth that I would expect after 30 years. Wooden window frames fall apart here in about 15 years, as in moss and rot grow them into different shapes and the glass falls out. We never see the miscarriages of mammals, nor the deformed ones that don't survive.
Rah Soft 6 years ago
many of the animals that appear to be healthy can come in from the outside since in the exclusion zone here is a bit of a vacuum in animals for animals outside are attracted to as a source of less competition for resources.
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Choubey Aditya 6 years ago
I am just worried that this place, all thanks to HBO, Instagram and today's narcissistic influencers will fall prey to humans again. What if someone decides to open a hotel nearby and then, we see tourist hoards disturbing wildlife and taking selfies?
John Sutton 6 years ago
I watched a documentary once that theorized what would happen in humans suddenly disappeared from earth. The conclusion: it would only take about 500 years for nature to completely erase the fact that we had ever been here.
NWB 6 years ago
I always thought growing up after a nuclear disaster nothing would grow. It still amazes me the life that has taken over.
Daria B 6 years ago
Your comment reminded me of a scene in Hadashi no Gen (a film about the bombing of Hiroshima based on the original manga of a survivor), when the main character witnesses rice starting to grow again and, with his friend, they are happily celebrating the discovery (they're little kids, btw) saying something like "it was said the rice wouldn't grow for years to come".
Load More Replies... Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 6 years ago
If there's a wall to be built, should be round here, to avoid animals get affected by radiation. Influencers... not much concerned about them.
Edgar Rops 6 years ago
Kind of optimistic, in a creepy way. shows how quickly, by nature's standards, many traces of human presence can be removed.
Freya the Wanderer 6 years ago
If you ever caught "Life After People," Pripiyat featured prominently in showing how Nature would take back over once humans vanished.
Magpie 6 years ago
I don't know how cold that area of the world gets. But it looks like a lot less growth that I would expect after 30 years. Wooden window frames fall apart here in about 15 years, as in moss and rot grow them into different shapes and the glass falls out. We never see the miscarriages of mammals, nor the deformed ones that don't survive.
Rah Soft 6 years ago
many of the animals that appear to be healthy can come in from the outside since in the exclusion zone here is a bit of a vacuum in animals for animals outside are attracted to as a source of less competition for resources.
Load More Replies... Choubey Aditya 6 years ago
I am just worried that this place, all thanks to HBO, Instagram and today's narcissistic influencers will fall prey to humans again. What if someone decides to open a hotel nearby and then, we see tourist hoards disturbing wildlife and taking selfies?
John Sutton 6 years ago
I watched a documentary once that theorized what would happen in humans suddenly disappeared from earth. The conclusion: it would only take about 500 years for nature to completely erase the fact that we had ever been here.
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