Chernobyl Area Becomes Wildlife Haven

73-year old Maria Urupa cleans her kitchen garden in a village near Chernobyl nuclear power plant on May 10, 2007. Two decades after an explosion and fire at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent clouds of radioactive particles drifting over the fields, natural wildlife is returning to the area, and Maria Urupa says the wilderness is encroaching. (AP Photo/ Efrem Lukatsky) (Efrem Lukatsky - AP)

In explaining their starkly differing views, Baker and Mousseau criticize each other's studies as poorly designed.

But their disagreement also reflects a deeper split among biologists who study the effects of exposure to radiation. Some, like Baker, think organisms can cope with the destructive effects of radiation up to a point _ beyond which they begin to suffer irreparable damage. Others believe that even low doses of radiation can trigger cancers and other illnesses.

In the Journal of Mammology in 1996, Baker and his colleagues reported that the disaster had not reduced either the diversity or abundance of a dozen species of rodents _ including mice, shrews, rats and weasels _ near the Chernobyl plant.

"Our studies show that a dynamic ecosystem is present in even the most radioactive habitats," they wrote.

Baker's group reported sighting red fox, gray wolf, moose, river otter, roe deer, Russian wild boar and brown hare within a six-mile radius of the plant _ the most heavily contaminated area.

Genetic tests showed Chernobyl's animals suffered some damage to their DNA, Baker and his colleagues reported. But they said overall it didn't seem to hurt wildlife populations.

"The resulting environment created by the Chernobyl disaster is better for animals," Baker told the Associated Press in a phone interview.

Critics point out that Baker's work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, which some view as pro-nuclear. Baker defended the government connection, saying, "We have never been asked to come up with any specific conclusions, just do honest work." He also said his work has been peer-reviewed.

Mousseau and his colleagues have painted a far more pessimistic picture.

In the journal Biology Letters in March, a group led by Anders Moller, from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, said that in a study of 7,700 birds examined since 1991 they found 11 rare or unknown abnormalities in a population of Chernobyl's barn swallows.

Roughly one-third of 248 Chernobyl nestlings studied were found to have ill-formed beaks, albino feathers, bent tail feathers and other malformations. Mousseau was a co-author of the report.

In other studies, Mousseau _ whose work is funded by the National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society _ and his colleagues have found increased genetic damage, reduced reproductive rates and what he calls "dramatically" higher mortality rates for birds living near Chernobyl.

The work suggests, he said, that Chernobyl is a "sink" where animals migrate but rapidly die off. Mousseau suspects that relatively low-level radiation reduces the level of antioxidants in the blood, which can lead to cell damage.

"From every rock we turn over, we find consequences," he told the Associated Press in a phone interview. "These reports of wildlife flourishing in the area are completely anecdotal and have no scientific basis."

While the experts debate, Maria Urupa, harvests tomatoes from her garden, buys fish from the nearby Pripyat River and brews moonshine vodka.

Eating locally produced food is risky, health experts agree, because plants and animals can concentrate radioactive materials as they cycle through the food chain. Doe she fear the effects of her exposure to radiation?

"Radiation? No!" she said. "What humans do? Yes."