Przewalski's Horses at Chernobyl

[vogelcommando]

Feral or not, a feral population is doing well at the Exclusion Zone in Chernobyl :

Chernobyl shocker as endangered wild horses take up residence in the Exclusion Zone

 

[birdsandbats]

Is this really that good though? How does radiation affect wildlife?

 

[Jurek7]

Amazing!

I guess released zoo-bred individual Przewalski's horses knew how to use stables, and started this behavior in the wild. If the horses were released 15 years ago, then the zoo-bred generation passed away by now. Now the wild-born horses continue the tradition. An unusual case of cultural transmission.

It is very unusual for wild equids to use confined spaces. They rely on speed to escape predators. If a pack of wolves attacked a horse in an old building, it would be in big trouble.

@birdsandbats - there is no visible effect of radiation on wildlife except the immediate vicinity of the nuclear station. I think that because wildlife, unlike humans, suffers large natural mortality, then harmful mutants are naturally purged from the population. However, there is a problem with illegal hunting of reintroduced horses and European bison inside the zone.

 

[Carl Jones]

This is a fascinating article and it would be good to know the ecological impacts that the horses are having. The horses are perhaps better described as free-living rather than feral since the original animals were released rather than captive animals that have gone feral.