Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom

Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom

Juvenile nonfiction
"Sharing the thick forests and green meadows with the boars are
thousands of red and roe deer and a large population of moose. Foxes
and lynx slink through the shadowy undergrowth...In addition to these
large mammals are many smaller ones, including beavers, Eurasian
badgers, mink, otters, hare, raccoons, bats, mice, and other rodents.
The Zone also has hundreds of species of birds, reptiles, amphibians,
and insects."
These animals and the biological mystery they embody are the
subjects of Rebecca Johnson's Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom: Life In The
Dead Zone. On April 26, 1986 a series of truly unfortunate events
culminated in a catastrophic explosion at Chernobyl Nuclear Power
Plant. Four hundred times more deadly radioactivity was released than
by the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II.
Radioactive material descending on towns made them unfit for human
habitation. It was assumed that the area around them would be a dead
zone, devoid of plant and animal life.
So what happened? How can an area that is supposed to be too
contaminated by nuclear fallout sustain the same variety of life forms
as pristine wilderness? Are the animals damaged internally and
genetically in ways we can't easily see? Are some species more
effected than others? These and other fascinating questions have
drawn a very daring cadre of scientists to this Exclusion Zone. Their
research, documented in Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom, makes for pretty
fascinating reading.
On a personal note, the odd jobs business I am starting so I can
concentrate on my writing rather be sucked into a retail/fast food
dead zone job is starting to grow. This summer I've had some weeding
work as well as a cleaning job. I may have a babysitting prospect.
When I get my own house clean and organized I will reward myself with
professional business cards that I bet will really help attract
business.
A great big shout out goes out to those brave scientists who take
their investigations to places where most of us (including this
reviewer) would fear to tread.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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