Category: In the Media

Douglas Main
National Geographic

July 16, 2018

 

Wild animals have free range around northern Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, which spread radiation throughout the region in 1986.

Studies have hinted that significant populations of European gray wolves and other large creatures live in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the roughly Rhode Island-sized, 1,000-square-mile section from which people were evacuated and can no longer live.

While clear of humans, animals are not free from radiation and its health effects, an active and at times controversial area of research. Many questions remain about the extent to which radiation causes mutations in various species, and whether these could be spread outside the zone. (Related: Animals Rule Chernobyl Three Decades After Nuclear Disaster)

In a recent experiment, researchers tracked 13 wolves using collars that could measure radiation, and found that, not unexpectedly, the animals encountered more radiation when they traveled through more contaminated areas. But one observation in the study, published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, stuck out: A collared young male took a 250-mile-long trek out of the region, first heading east into Belarus, then into Ukraine, and eventually into Russia.

This is the first recorded long-distance wolf migration from within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to its surroundings, says study leader Jim Beasley, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Georgia in the United States.

Young male wolves are known to travel long distances in search of mates, so that in itself isn’t shocking, Beasley says. However, it provides further evidence that there are major populations of the animals in the Chernobyl region, Beasley says.

“We know the wolf population in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is high,” says first author Michael Byrne, who studies animal movement and ecology at the University of Missouri. “You’d expect that as a population of any animal, once it gets to a certain level, can only hold so many—so young animals will disperse.”

“It came time for him to go out in the world and get a job,” Byrne jokes. (See photos taken on illegal visits to Chernobyl’s dead zone.)

This epic trek also raises the question of whether or not the animals could spread mutations to wolf populations outside the area, he adds.

Studies in other animals—mostly smaller ones like birds, rodents, and insects—show that Chernobyl radiation can cause mutations and ill health effects, says Tim Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina who was not involved in the recent study.

And work done in creatures such as barn swallows and voles suggests these mutations may be transferred to the next generation, he says. These smaller animals also have the potential to spread radioactive contaminants to the environment through their movements, Mousseau notes.

But so far, the picture is less clear in wolves, he says. “It’s certainly plausible,” he says, though there are not large populations of wolves immediately surrounding Chernobyl to spread these mutations to. In other smaller animals in the area, exposure to radiation has been associated with tumors, cataracts, smaller brains, and certain developmental abnormalities.

Anders Møller, a scientist at the University of Paris-Sud, argues that since most mutations are harmful, it’s unlikely that a wolf capable of moving this far would be heavily impacted by radiation. Furthermore, he contests the idea that wolves are “thriving” in Chernobyl, as some scientists have suggested, saying that wolves are also doing well in other areas of Europe.

Radiation Vibe

Instead, Møller’s work shows that “hot” areas with high levels of radiation have low populations of wildlife, and it follows that animals that linger in these regions may sustain genetic damage. The Chernobyl landscape is quite varied; much of it remains pristine, while pockets still harbor high levels of radiation. (Read about other places where animals thrive without people.)

“I can go out blindfolded to a random location in Chernobyl and I’d be able to tell you the level of background radiation based on the amount of birds in the area,” and thus the amount of audible birdsong, Møller says.

One debate concerns the degree to which the Chernobyl area serves as a source or “sink” for surrounding animal populations. Byrne and colleagues have a hunch that the region could be a population source for wolves, and if so, that would mean any radiation-caused genetic damage could spread to other wolf populations.

The authors stress that more work needs to be done to answer questions raised in the paper.

“I don’t want to say that animals from Chernobyl are contaminating the world,” Byrne says. “But if there are any forms of mutations that could be passed on, it’s a thing to consider.”

Zane Razzaq
Metro West Daily News
Daily News staff

zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com
@zanerazz

May 22, 2018

 

SUDBURY — After providing nine months of care, 16-year-old Trent George felt like he was saying goodbye to an old friend.

George was among several high school students who paddled canoes at a pond in the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge to reach the best spots to release about 50 rare Blanding’s turtle into the wild to ensure their long-term survival.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said George, of releasing his favorite reptile, tagged #4454. “It’s like ‘all right, buddy, see you later.’”

Students took care to avoid areas where the water was too deep for the months-old turtles. Before they were released, all turtles were notched for individual identification. Later, scientists will return to the refuge to record how many survived.

George’s school, Bristol County Agricultural, partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, and Oxbow Associates, Inc., to help the endangered species.

Since 2010, sophomores in the school’s Natural Resource Management Program have raised hundreds of Blanding’s turtle hatchlings, guiding them through their first nine months of life. By giving them this “head start” in life, the turtles have a higher survival rate after release than their wild counterparts.

“Head-starting” refers to raising young animals in captivity until they are past their most vulnerable stage.

Blanding’s turtles are a medium-sized, semi-aquatic freshwater turtle that inhabits wetlands in parts of New England. Their most distinctive feature is orange markings on their necks and legs and a shell that resembles carved wood. Blanding’s turtles are unusual in that they usually show no sign of aging and can live to 80 if they reach maturity. They are regarded as an endangered species in Massachusetts and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is determining if federal listing under the Endangered Species Act is warranted.

Multiple factors have led to the species’ low numbers. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife cites habitat loss, unnaturally inflated rates of predators in suburban and urban areas, and agricultural practices among the reasons.

Kurt Buhlmann, a University of Georgia associate research scientist, said the project was a rare opportunity to help recover a population of the brink of extinction.

“We’re always fighting to rebuild populations,” said Buhlmann. “This is an opportunity to not just protect a species we already have but to rebuild another. This hasn’t really been done for species like turtles. These kids are on the cutting edge.”

im Angley, a New Jersey conservationist, called the project clever and proactive.

“This is thinking out of the box,” said Angley. “They’re not just sitting on their hands and doing nothing.”

Aggie student George, who lives in Norton, said raising the turtles was hard work but rewarding. This year, the project had a mortality rate of zero.

“The first few weeks, it’s kind of like a newborn where you have no idea what’s going on but you’re enjoying it. Then it’s like, OK … I got this,” he said.

Buhlmann smiled widely after all the turtles had been released.

“It’s good for kids to get dirty. I worry that if you don’t do this as a kid – get in a boat and stare at bugs, get your hands dirty – you won’t do it as an adult,” said Buhlmann.

 

 

Several local businesses and community organizations will also be set up at the event, which is free and open to all county residents.

He is known for using innovative field techniques in his research to investigate the behavior and management of mammal populations, particularly in human-altered landscapes.

They would virtually double the number of current releases as part of the ongoing project that studies how many survive and if they expand their range.

Once gopher tortoises make it to adulthood, they’re like “a fixture on the landscape,” says Kurt Buhlmann, a senior research scientist at University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Lab. “They’re like a rock. They’re going to be there.”

“These samples are not for regulatory purposes, but to help the citizens understand how monitoring is conducted and how to better understand the data once they have it.”

The tortoise release was part of a 10-year project by the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Lab to increase the animal’s population.

To give baby gopher tortoises a head start in life locally, eggs laid by the reptiles are removed from the preserve and hatched at SREL.

The goal is to eventually have a population of 250 adult tortoises at the preserve.