Chernobyl is often presented as evidence that wildlife can flourish in radioactive landscapes.

After the Chernobyl reactor exploded in 1986, deadly radiation spread through the surrounding forests, killing animals, twisting trees, and leaving the area mostly uninhabitable for humans. But over ...

In April 1986, the Chernobyl disaster led to a thriving ecosystem of animals, including feral dogs. A 2023 study revealed distinct genetic differences in Chernobyl's dogs, hinting at possible ...

Wolves now prowl the vast no-man’s-land spanning Ukraine and Belarus, and brown bears have returned after more than a century ...

The former nuclear power plant, deemed too radioactive for human habitation, is now teeming with a healthy animal population, a long-term study finds. Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she ...

In January 2021, a picture of a strange, four-legged animal appeared in an online advertisement about the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear-reactor disaster in Ukraine. The ad claimed: "There ...

CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE, Belarus — What happens to the environment when humans disappear? Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, booming populations of wolf, elk and other wildlife in the ...

Forty years after the Chernobyl disaster, the exclusion zone has transformed into an unexpected wildlife haven. With humans gone, wolves, lynx, and rare birds have returned in large numbers, showing h ...

What would happen if the world were suddenly without people - if humans vanished off the face of the earth? How would nature react - and how swiftly? On the edge of Europe, the deserted village of ...