I’ve stated it before and I’ll state it again: the presence of humans is worse for wildlife than radiation contamination. Ever since the Chernobyl nuclear plant suffered a meltdown in 1986, forcing the evacuation of humans from the area, wildlife populations have exploded there. Species of mammals and birds, rare or extirpated elsewhere in Europe, thrive in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone where people are almost completely absent. Studies show wildlife populations in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are even higher than those in protected national parks in the region, and the diversity and abundance of wildlife here exceeds that of most American national parks.
During the 1986 meltdown a dense cloud of radiation struck a 2-3 square mile area, turning the green coniferous trees red, and today it is known as the red forest. 80% of it burned in a wildfire during 2015, and a year later scientists set up 21 camera traps here to study wildlife populations. Over a year the cameras took 45,859 images, and the scientists were able to identify animals in 19,391 of them including 14 species of mammals, 23 species of birds, and even some large insects. The height of the cameras selected for large species, but they did get images of smaller species too.

A 2-3 square mile area of forest near the Chernobyl nuclear plant turned red from radiation contamination. Scientists set up 21 camera traps to record the species of mammals that live here.

This chart is the result of the camera trap study conducted in the Chernobyl red forest. They also recorded some large insects, but that part of the chart wouldn’t fit on this image. From the below referenced study.

Endangered Przewalski’s horses live in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. They were recorded from 6 of the 21 camera traps.

Moose were 1 of the more common large mammals found in the camera traps. The red forest is converting to a young deciduous successional forest with the types of plants moose like to eat.
Moose, red deer, roe deer, brown hare, and wolf were photographed by most of the traps. A deciduous undergrowth is replacing the burned and dead coniferous trees. Moose and roe deer prefer to eat this type of plant growth, and this may explain why they are common here. Brown bear, bison, and beaver were not photographed in the study, but this is not surprising because they are uncommon is this part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. For me the most surprising discovery were feral dogs photographed by 6 of the cameras. I thought wolves would have wiped out feral dogs, but apparently, they have found a niche.
A previous study of the red forest area in 2009 found low mammal abundance. This new study contradicts the earlier study. Perhaps animals are finally returning to one of the more contaminated areas. Possibly, the fire improved habitat for them.
Reference:
Beresford, N.; S. Gashek, M. Wood, and C. Barnett
“Mammals in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’s Red Forest: A Motion-activated Camera Study”
Earth Syst. Sci. Data 15 911-920 November 2022