Red Forest

The Red Forest (Ukrainian: Рудий ліс, romanized: Rudyi lis; Russian: Рыжий лес, romanized: Ryzhiy les) is the ten-square-kilometre (4 sq mi) area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant within the Exclusion Zone, located in Polesia. The name "Red Forest" comes from the ginger-brown colour of the pine trees after they died following the absorption of high levels of ionizing radiation as a consequence of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on 26 April 1986. The site remains one of the most contaminated areas in the world today. The trees which were originally dosed by radiation from the disaster were removed by the cleanup crews; consequently, all trees visible there today are relatively young and were not directly irradiated. The young forest is now home to a wide variety of wildlife including "red deer, roe deer, wild boar, moose, horse, bison, brown bear, lynx, wolves, two species of hare, beaver, otter, badger, some martins, some mink, and polecats" which have thrived in the area due to the lack of human activity.