In Chernobyl exclusion zone, a resourceful fox builds a sandwich

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How are animals surviving in Chernobyl 29 years after the April 26, 1986 nuclear disaster that left it abandoned?

Well it appears that some of them have developed impressive culinary skills.

A news crew working with Russia’s Radio Svoboda was visiting the Chernobyl exclusion zone recently when one of the crew members offered a fox some food.

Not satisfied with the slices of bread and meat scattered across the road, the fox stacked the food into a five-decker sandwich before running off into the woods with its lunch.

The BBC speculated that the fox seemed unafraid of the visiting humans, “presumably because they are so rarely seen in the nuclear exclusion zone.”

Apparently there’s “no shortage” of foxes in the 30 sq. km. exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear plant. In fact, wildlife is thriving in the area, with “an increasing number of foxes, wolves, and bears in the zone,” Radio Free Europe reported.

According to the Weather Network, endangered Przewalski’s horses even showed up in the exclusion zone where a breeding population now survives.

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And while radiation levels are still higher than considered acceptable — the animals are too radioactive for human consumption — they appear to be otherwise healthy, having adapted to their circumstances.

“Animals don’t seem to sense radiation and will occupy an area regardless of the radiation condition,” radioecologist Sergey Gaschak told the BBC in 2006.