These Incredible Images Show Animals Thriving In Human Disaster Zones

Michael Kotter

To steal a few words from Jurassic Park and Jeff Goldblum, life finds a way. That statement certainly has been proven true by some of the images you are about to see.

Located in some of Earth’s least habitable human environments animals are thriving, prospering without human intervention.

War, man-made disaster, and pollution have opened the door for nature to take back lands where man no longer treads.

1) Korean Demilitarized Zone

Michael S. Yamashita/National Geographic

In the narrow 2.5 mile strip of land that separates North and South Korea, rare birdlife is exploiting the lack of human population.

The area is the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, and it is heavily guarded on either side but the space in between is a no mans land, now home to the red-crowned crane and the white-naped crane.

National Geographic reckons it could also be home to the extremely rare Amur leopard and the Siberian tiger.

Michael S. Yamashita

2) Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Ryan Moehring/USFWS

During World War II a chemical weapons facility near Denver, Colorado, erected fences that essentially caged hundreds of species inside an inadvertent reserve.

Despite all the chemical pollution that has drained into the land these animals continue to achieve more than just survival.

With the city of Denver visible in the background the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is home to American bison, mule deer, and the recently introduced black-footed ferret.

3) Chernobyl Nuclear Exclusion Zone, Ukraine

Sergey Gashchak

Arguably the most unexpected animal sanctuary on the list following the 1986 nuclear explosion that led to a mass human exodus, Chernobyl’s exclusion zone has created a haven for rare species.

It is not disputed that radiation has an adverse effect on wildlife, but on the evidence it is apparent infringement on habitats by man has worse consequences.

TREE Project

With no one to hunt or out-compete them, wolves, bears, and European lynx have grown significantly in number, as proven by this incredible webcam footage which displays a wide array of species.

Check it out below.

They may be wild but they certainly aren’t stupid, and they know when an easy meal has been made available.

Great technique.

UNILAD