A genetic study conducted by the University of South Carolina and the National Human Genome Research Institute, published in ...

What makes these cute, innocent, eager puppies so dangerous? They are among the roughly 900 strays who live in and around the ...

In 2023, scientists dug into the DNA of 302 Chernobyl dogs and found hundreds of unique genetic markers. Some markers could be linked to repairing DNA damage, an essential trait in a radiation ...

"The dogs have continued to live and propagate in some well-defined regions, like the nuclear power plant area, Chernobyl City, which is where workers live some 15 kilometers or so away.

The hundreds of dogs surrounding Chernobyl started out as pets. When the Soviet power plant exploded in 1986, residents who evacuated the area were forced to leave them behind.

Mousseau has been working in the Chernobyl region since the late 1990s and began collecting blood from the dogs around 2017. Some of the dogs live in the power plant, a dystopian, industrial setting.

Mousseau has been working in the Chernobyl region since the late 1990s and began collecting blood from the dogs around 2017. Some of the dogs live in the power plant, a dystopian, industrial setting.

And then the military was directed to kill the dogs, but many of them lived. And for 35 years, they've been breeding, living and dying in the forests around Chernobyl.

Comparing Chernobyl's dogs to pure-bred canines from elsewhere in Europe, the team revealed that one group of canines living close to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, occupying Pripyat and the ...

Spatola, et al, "The Dogs of Chernobyl: Demographic Insights into Populations Inhabiting the Nuclear Exclusion Zone," 9 Science Advances 9, 3 Mar 2023. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade2537.

The Chernobyl dogs are characterized by their big floppy ears and their thick, muscular bodies. "The big breeds that persist through natural selection are the tougher and stronger breeds.