Bison Coming to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Measures plans to carry out an experiment by bringing bison into the 30 km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Minister Volodomyr Shandra stated at a recent press conference that there is a clean region in the Zone in which they can create wilderness areas. The government will build enclosures in one of these areas to contain the bison population.I don't understand what is to be gained by this action. We already know from the Zone's multitude of existing wildlife that animals can survive there. What kind of meaningful information can we possibly learn from importing bison into the Zone?
Photo: Henryk Kotowski
Do they state which areas in the zone are especially clean, would be interesting to know, we certainly visited some very dirty and some very clean areas as far as radiation is concerned, Im sure alot of those abandoned communal farming areas would be ideal. As for the purpose of bringing them in im not sure, are Bison abundant in the Ukraine anyway ?
Posted by: Graham | June 20, 2008 3:19 PM
Hey Graham,
They did not say where the "clean" areas are, or exactly where they will keep the bison. My educated guess is that the "clean" areas would be near the Exclusion Zone borders, especially in the southern area. Remember, when the accident occurred, the winds blew most of the radiation to the north and west. Therefore, I assume areas to the south are definitely cleaner than the immediate north and west of the plant.
According to statistics from 2003, approximately 690 lowland European bison range freely in Poland, Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Romania and Ukraine.
I'm just wondering if Shandra has really thought this through. He wants people to visit the Exclusion Zone to observe the "price of human error." If he wants people to visit the Zone, he better loosen up the restrictions. First of all, you have to be at least 18 to get in the Zone, so parents can't bring their kids to see the animals. Second, it currently costs around $84 US per day per person for the program registration. That's not counting the cost of the guide you need with you. It is just way too cost prohibitive for most people to visit the Zone (and prices have risen approximately 200% in the last 2 years).
Posted by: Mark
| June 20, 2008 5:14 PM