--- title: The Chornobyl zone: how wild animals came back, and what is still argued — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The Chornobyl zone: how wild animals came back, and what is still argued», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In 1986 a reactor at the Chornobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded and spread radiation, and peop --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / The Chornobyl zone: how wild animals c… # The Chornobyl zone: how wild animals came back, and what is still argued Lesson 376 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 19 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/0/) — In 1986 a reactor at the Chornobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded and spread radiation, and people had to leave a large area around it. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/1/) — Picture a town where nobody has walked for 40 years: birches grow through flats, moss covers the roads. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/2/) — With no hunting, farming or traffic, wolves, elk, boar, lynx and even brown bears came back. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/3/) — Camera traps film them walking down empty streets, and wild Przewalski's horses shelter in old barns. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/4/) — Radiation still harms living things in the worst spots, and scientists argue how much. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/5/) — Both things can be true: radiation hurts animals, yet people being gone helps them more in many places. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/6/) — Real Chornobyl animals look normal: a wolf there has one head and four legs. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/7/) — Games and films invent monsters because they are fun and scary, not because they are true. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/8/) — In 1986 a reactor at the Chornobyl power plant exploded, and people were moved out of a large area around it. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/9/) — The zone in Ukraine is about 2,600 square kilometres, and there is a zone on the Belarus side too; without people, forests and meadows grew back into villages and fields. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/10/) — Wolves, elk, deer, wild boar, lynx, foxes and even brown bears now live in the zone, and a study on the Belarus side counted about seven times more wolves than in nearby reserves. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/11/) — In 1998 about 30 Przewalski's horses were let go in the zone; they grew to over a hundred and use old barns as shelter from heat and flies, filmed by cameras hidden in the buildings. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/13/) — The pine trees nearest the reactor were killed by radiation and turned red-brown, giving the Red Forest its name; new birches and pines have grown back since. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/14/) — In the most radioactive spots fallen leaves rot slowly, which scientists think is because the tiny decomposers that break down dead things, such as fungi, germs and minibeasts, are harmed. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/15/) — Spanish scientists reported that eastern tree frogs in the zone are darker than usual; they think the dark pigment melanin may have helped frogs survive, and it is still being studied. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/16/) — Hundreds of dogs in the zone come from pets left behind in 1986; scientists study their DNA, and volunteers vaccinate and feed them. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/18/) — Mushrooms suck up caesium, a radioactive metal the explosion left in the soil, very well, and wild boar eat underground fungi, so boar in Germany can still be radioactive long after other meat is clean. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/19/) — Nobody should pick mushrooms or berries in the zone. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/376-the-chornobyl-zone-how-wild-animals-came-back-and-what-is-still-argued/20/) — There are no giant mutants: animals badly harmed in 1986 mostly died young, and the animals seen today are healthy ones. - ← previous: [White storks: Ukraine's favourite birds and their journey to Africa](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/375-white-storks-ukraine-s-favourite-birds-and-their-journey-to-africa/) - next →: [Ukraine's plants: sunflowers, viburnum, poppies, lime trees and steppe grasses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/377-ukraine-s-plants-sunflowers-viburnum-poppies-lime-trees-and-steppe-grasses/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)