Ukraine Halts Animal Program

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Monday April 26 4:36 AM ET 

Ukraine Halts Animal Program

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine has suspended a controversial 
program to settle wild horses, bears, deer and other animals in
overgrown forests in the evacuated zone surrounding the Chernobyl 
nuclear plant.

The animals were to be brought into the 19-mile-radius ``exclusion 
zone'' to eat dry grasses to reduce the chance of forest fires that 
could disturb soil containing radiation and send up contaminated 
smoke.  

Opponents said the program is not feasible and a waste of money, 
prompting the government to rethink the idea.

The exclusion zone was established after Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 
exploded 13 years ago today, on April 26, 1986, in the world's 
worst nuclear accident. Towns and villages inside the zone were 
evacuated, although more than 600 people have since returned to 
their homes.  

Forests, considered to be good protection against radiation, cover 
about 50 percent of the zone's territory. However, they suffer 
frequent fires, especially during the hot and often dry Ukrainian 
summer.  

Most biologists agree there is no danger of radiation-related 
mutations among the imported animals, but opponents of the 
program have argued that their arrival may disrupt the ecological  
balance of local animals in the zone.

------------------------
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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