A study has revealed that wildlife has been thriving around the radiation-contaminated Chernobyl exclusion zone about three decades after the world's worst nuclear accident in the zone. According to researchers, a number of mammal species, such as roe deer, elk, wild boar, red deer and wolves, are thriving in the zone without human presence.

The study published in the journal Current Biology suggested that a nuclear disaster may be less harmful for wildlife than humans. The study authors said, “These results demonstrate for the first time that, regardless of potential radiation effects on individual animals, the Chernobyl exclusion zone supports an abundant mammal community after nearly three decades of chronic radiation”.

The study could help scientists understand the effects of nuclear disasters on wildlife. During the recent study, the researchers observed the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. It was one of the most catastrophic nuclear disasters in the world. Radioactive material released after an explosion affected more than 100,000 people in Chernobyl exclusion zone.

As it was not possible to tell wild animals to evacuate the place, researchers thought the radiation would affect the wildlife in the area. But the new study has hinted that populations of animals in the region are thriving.

According to the researchers, they found that the elk and wild board populations in the exclusion zone were rising in the 1990s when regions like Soviet Union countries were noticing a drop in those animals’ population.

“Relative abundances of elk, roe deer, red deer and wild boar within the Chernobyl exclusion zone are similar to those in four (uncontaminated) nature reserves in the region and wolf abundance is more than 7 times higher,” the study authors wrote.

“Additionally, our earlier helicopter survey data show rising trends in elk, roe deer and wild boar abundances from one to ten years post-accident.”