Original title: Fukushima, Japan, ten years after the nuclear leak: from a restricted area to a wildlife paradise
Nearly a decade after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, researchers at the University of Georgia and Fukushima University in Japan found that the originally expected "life forbidden zone" has actually become a "paradise" for wild animals.
Researchers took more than 267000 photos of wild animals in different areas and recorded more than 20 species, including wild boar, Japanese rabbit, macaque, pheasant, Fox and raccoon dog. James middot, a wildlife biologist who led the study; James Beasley said: 'our results prove for the first time that there are a large number of wild animals living in the Fukushima restricted area despite radiation pollution.'
Bisley said that species that often conflict with humans, especially wild boars, are often captured by cameras in human restricted areas. "This shows that the number of these species is increasing rapidly with the evacuation of humans," he said
The researchers identified three areas for the study: no man's land where human beings are completely excluded due to high-level radiation pollution, areas where human beings are limited due to moderate pollution and inhabited areas. In the third case, humans are allowed to stay there because the radiation levels found in the environment are very low. The above photographic data were collected from 106 locations in these three regions.
In 120 days, the camera captured more than 46000 pictures of wild boars, of which more than 26000 were taken in no man's land. In contrast, about 13000 photos were taken in restricted areas and 7000 in residential areas. There are a large number of other species in no man's land or restricted areas, including raccoons, Japanese minks and macaques.
Thomas middot, Professor, Institute of environmental radioactivity, Fukushima University; "This study makes an important contribution because it reflects the impact of radiation on wildlife populations, while most previous studies have looked for the impact on individual animals," said Thomas Hinton
Scientists said that although there was no previous data on the wild animal population in the radiation exclusion zone, the area was close to human settlements and the landscape was similar, making the area an ideal control area for the study. The team assessed the impact of other variables: distance from the road, activity time captured by the camera, vegetation type and altitude.
Bisley said: 'the topography of mountain and coastal habitats is different, and we know that these habitats support different types of species. To explain these factors, we included habitat and landscape characteristics, such as altitude, in the analysis. Based on these analyses, we found that the level of human activity, altitude and habitat type are the main factors affecting the richness of the assessed species, not the radiation level. "
The results of this study show that the activity patterns of most species are consistent with their well-known historical or behavioral patterns. Raccoons are still active at night and are more active at night. Pheasants that are active during the day are more active during the day. However, in no man's land, wild boars are more active than their counterparts in inhabited areas, suggesting that they may have changed their behavior without humans.
One exception to these patterns is the Japanese mustache antelope, a goat like mammal. They are usually far away from human life, but they are most often seen in camera lenses in rural inhabited highlands. The researchers believe that this may be a self-regulation of animal behavior in order to avoid the rapid growth of wild boar population in no man's land.