[HN Gopher] The dogs of Chernobyl: Canine populations inhabiting...
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The dogs of Chernobyl: Canine populations inhabiting a nuclear
exclusion zone
Author : zomg
Score : 40 points
Date : 2023-03-04 20:24 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.science.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.science.org)
| dbg31415 wrote:
| Can we work towards re-homing the dogs, or not so much?
| wbraun wrote:
| I was a volunteer for the rescue program in 2018. I am not sure
| what the exact criteria were, but dogs from the Chernobyl
| exclusion zone have been re-homed before.
|
| A few dogs which otherwise would have been good candidates were
| too internally contaminated to re-home. Not too bad, it would
| have been something equivalent to a few x-rays a year if the
| dog slept on your bed every night. But the modal rescue dog has
| no radiation risk at all to worry about.
|
| Beyond that, the workers in the exclusion zone are quite fond
| and protective of the stray dogs, so I think there would have
| been significant blowback if a significant portion of the dogs
| were re-homed.
| WJW wrote:
| Of course we could, but is there any reason why we should? They
| seem to be doing fine as is.
| kurthr wrote:
| That is a lot of pages to get past many confounding variables
| and, "The Chernobyl dog population has great
| potential for informing environmental resource management studies
| in a resurging population. Its greatest potential, however, lies
| in understanding the biological underpinnings of animal and,
| ultimately, human survival in regions of high and continuous
| environmental assault."
|
| I don't see any actual results, just more informed research. OK,
| they found that their were more family groups in closer proximity
| than with wolves, and that there may be some mixing with new
| breeds due to humans moving back in and bringing in pets.
| shrx wrote:
| > That is a lot of pages to get past
|
| Not surprising since even the title is basically the same
| message, duplicated.
| Waterluvian wrote:
| It would be a novel plot for a film: environmentalists want to
| cause nuclear disasters to create human-free habitats for all the
| animals that don't live long enough for the radiation to
| seriously harm them.
| estebank wrote:
| That's not far off the (B?) plot of the Rainbow Six book.
| radagast wrote:
| This is why I love HN - in the between the constant bombardments
| of the latest AI advances or the newest frameworks we get someone
| that shares something most of us would have missed.
|
| I've visited Kyiv twice and both times went on a guided tour
| around Chernobyl and Pripyat. I have fond memories of the
| beautiful dogs that knew how to play the tourists for food. I had
| read about them beforehand so I brought them some proper dog
| food. One of them had the biggest tick I've ever seen, it was
| almost the size of my thumb. Even though they roamed free some
| nice people care for them. They were tagged so probably most of
| them either sterilized or vaccinated.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| _> the biggest tick I 've ever seen_
|
| In East Africa, the cows would get these _massive_ ticks that
| were visible, when driving past on the road. They were the size
| of ping-pong balls (and sort of looked like bluish ones).
| InCityDreams wrote:
| >They were tagged so probably most of them either sterilized or
| vaccinated.
|
| Tagged also to include gps, one would hope.
| stan_kirdey wrote:
| i just wanted to see the good bois
| 101008 wrote:
| If you can, donate to Clean Future - Dogs of Chernobyl program
| https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| My neighbor does that with stray cat groups, around here. It's
| quite effective (and humane).
|
| Of course, that site has lots of heart-wrenching pictures of
| puppies.
|
| If anyone has seen the new German-language _All Quiet On the
| Western Front_ (richly deserving of all the accolades, IMNSHO),
| the initial scene is downright heartbreaking (not like the rest
| of the movie is any more upbeat, but that scene is the one that
| sticks).
| wbraun wrote:
| Although I was not involved in the study itself, I was a
| volunteer for the rescue program in Chernobyl in summer 2018 when
| a lot of the data was collected. I assisted with checking
| radiation levels / decontamination and operating a whole body
| radiation counter to measure the radiation levels of the dogs for
| a different study.
|
| The stray dogs in the Chernobyl exclusion zone were surprisingly
| friendly. Better socialized and behaved than a good number of pet
| dogs I see in the USA.
|
| As mentioned elsewhere in the replies, if you think the program
| is interesting, consider donating to the Clean Futures Fund:
| https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/
| live_video wrote:
| the Chernobyl retriever
| dr_faustus wrote:
| If you came here for 3-eyed dogs, you will be sorely
| disappointed!
| throwbadubadu wrote:
| Not visibly, but also didn't really get what that now means?
|
| > Genome-wide profiles from Chernobyl, purebred and free-
| breeding dogs, worldwide reveal that the individuals from the
| power plant and Chernobyl City are genetically distinct, with
| the former displaying increased intrapopulation genetic
| similarity and differentiation. Analysis of shared ancestral
| genome segments highlights differences in the extent and timing
| of western breed introgression. Kinship analysis reveals 15
| families, with the largest spanning all collection sites within
| the radioactive exclusion zone, reflecting migration of dogs
| between the power plant and Chernobyl City.
|
| Does that now mean they maybe gained/lost something or
| hardened, or just that tribes establlished themselves there?
| Retric wrote:
| Tribes. These are likely the descendants of peoples pets left
| behind and isolated which combined with a short lifespan has
| treated a fairly unique population.
|
| It's a fairly unusual situation where winter is a larger
| issue than the radiation: https://www.newsweek.com/meet-dogs-
| chernobyl-these-wild-anim...
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(page generated 2023-03-04 23:00 UTC)