Surprising Life: Despite radioactivity, animals returning

PARISHEV, Ukraine (AP) - Twenty years after an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant sent clouds of radioactive particles drifting over the fields near her home, Maria Urupa says that the wilderness is encroaching.

Packs of wolves have eaten two of her dogs, says Urupa, 73. Wild boar trample through her cornfield, and foxes, rabbits and snakes infest the meadows.

“I’ve seen a lot of wild animals here,” says Urupa, one of about 300 mostly elderly residents who have refused to move out of Chernobyl’s contaminated zone.

The return of wildlife to the region near the world’s worst nuclear power accident is an apparent paradox that biologists are trying to understand.