Wildlife has now returned to Chernobyl
After the area was evacuated, wildlife took advantage of all the empty space and moved in. According to a study from 2005, the number of deer, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, and moose is similar to numbers found in the uncontaminated surrounding area. Wolves are actually doing better, with numbers seven times higher than nearby reserves. However, the wildlife population is still lower than in other protected areas in Europe.