- The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is considered the second-worst nuclear accident in history.
- According to a new study, animal populations are thriving in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone, which was abandoned after the accident.
- The animals are multiplying in the absence of humans, despite the lingering presence of radiation.
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The villages outside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan are relatively quiet. In the town of Ōkuma, elderly men walk the streets searching for trash or fallen branches to pick up. Residents buy newspapers and snacks at the local convenience store.
But in some nearby communities, humans still aren't allowed back.
Almost nine years ago, on March 11, 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused three nuclear meltdowns and multiple hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima power plant. The incident forced 150,000 people to evacuate across a 440-square-mile area.
Although many neighborhoods remain empty today, wild animals like boar, snow monkeys, and red foxes seem to be thriving, even in the presence of lingering radiation.
For a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, researchers observed more than 20 species on camera over the course of 120 days from May 2016 to February 2017.
"Our results represent the first evidence that numerous species of wildlife are now abundant throughout the Fukushima Evacuation Zone, despite the presence of radiological contamination," James Beasley, a wildlife biologist who co-authored the study, said in a press release.
Here's what the researchers saw.