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The Dogs of Chernobyl
- lisabeye99 4y ago[dead]
- kurthr 4y agoThat 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 4y ago> That is a lot of pages to get past Not surprising since even the title is basically the same message, duplicated.
- radagast 4y agoThis 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.
- InCityDreams 4y ago>They were tagged so probably most of them either sterilized or vaccinated. Tagged also to include gps, one would hope.
- beebeepka 4y agoThe tag is likely just a clip on of the dog's ears.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago> 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).
- cheeze 4y agoSame. I find that hn crowd is pretty well educated. It's almost a replacement for reddit, which has gone way downhill for me. I don't care about writing a webserver in scheme or whatnot. I come here for this stuff these days. I wish there was an easy way to find stuff like this and filter out the... Normal hn stuff. I love the long reads I've found here. Eg "the secret of nanda devi" or "the hunt for the death valley Germans"
- 101008 4y agoIf you can, donate to Clean Future - Dogs of Chernobyl program https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/ https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoMy 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).
- dr_faustus 4y agoIf you came here for 3-eyed dogs, you will be sorely disappointed!
- throwbadubadu 4y agoNot 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 4y agoTribes. 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-animals-are-adoption-1035379 https://www.newsweek.com/meet-dogs-chernobyl-these-wild-anim...
- ggm 4y agoIs this adversarial selective pressure? They'd occupy the same niche, and so forming "tribes" inevitability implies competition for whatever scarce resource they have to share. Something in diet or habitat would become a limiting factor. It would be fascinating to compare this to isolated speciation which can drive to weird gigantism or dwarfism. I'd imagine that the advantages of eg being social to humans played differently.
- Retric 4y ago
- dbg31415 4y agoCan we work towards re-homing the dogs, or not so much?
- manarth 4y agoSure, and when they curl up on your bed – you've got yourself a free-energy nightlight!
- WJW 4y agoOf course we could, but is there any reason why we should? They seem to be doing fine as is.
- SoftTalker 4y agoThey are domestic dogs. Yes they can fend for themselves but are bred to be and will be happier as human companions.
- j16sdiz 4y agoAre they? They have been living away from human for last 40 years. They are free roaming, that meant they could migrate if they really want. ..
- yakshaving_jgt 4y agoNot quite. The exclusion zone is pretty touristy, and there are always people there working. The dogs are mostly tame and friendly, and they happily engage and socialise with tourists. One thing to understand about Ukraine is that many animals are kind of like community pets. They don’t belong to anyone in particular, but they live in one area and are fed and cared for by all the people in the area. People (and even businesses!) build small shelters for the animals. The Silpo supermarket downstairs from the last apartment I lived in had its own little cat shelter fit for about six cats, and painted nicely with Silpo branding.
- wbraun 4y ago
- Waterluvian 4y agoIt 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 4y agoThat's not far off the (B?) plot of the Rainbow Six book.
- GalenErso 4y agoClose up of pup's face. Heavy rain. No music. Close up of main character's face, crying with open eyes, looking at pup. Close up of main character's hand over a tablet. Close up of main character's face. "Everything I've done..." Close up of pup's face. Close up of main character's face. "... I did for you". Close up of character's hand tapping the tablet. Cue soft ethereal music with female choir. There is a very bright explosion in the distance. The main character turns back. Camera zooms into their eye, where you can see the reflection of the blast wave fast approaching. White screen.
- frutiger 4y agoTwelve Monkeys.
- stan_kirdey 4y agoi just wanted to see the good bois
- wbraun 4y agoAlthough 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/ https://www.cleanfutures.org/dogs-of-chernobyl/
- vogt 4y agoJust donated. Thanks for posting. I think it is both impressive + admirable that you undertook that kind of work. I donate to a lot of rescue charities and this is a whole totally new area I had never heard of (Chernobyl dogs specifically)
- kstenerud 4y ago> Better socialized and behaved than a good number of pet dogs I see in the USA. Free-roaming dogs (in non-threatening environments) can socialize much more naturally than city dogs, who spend most of their time isolated indoors with few people and animals to interact with (stunting their social development).
- logicalmind 4y agoReminds me of my experience in Copper Canyon in Mexico. You can rent small cottages in one particular location and dogs roam the area. When tourists arrive, the a dog tends to stick to each particular group. The dog walks with you on hikes and sleeps on your porch while you're there. In exchange for snacks and water, but it doesn't beg. The dogs are as loyal as I've ever seen while you're there. When you leave, they move onto the next group. The area is great, and the dog friend I made, just added to the experience.
- noduerme 4y ago
- live_video 4y agothe Chernobyl retriever
- jesusofnazarath 4y ago[dead]
- sinoue 4y agoFolks in several European countries can adopt Ukraine rescued dogs. https://www.sochidogs.org/adopt-dogs-ukraine https://www.sochidogs.org/adopt-dogs-ukraine I wonder if a program to rehabilitate and adopt Chernobyl Canines would be popular as a fundraiser and to bring more awareness to the issue?
- geenew 4y ago> This study presents the first characterization of a domestic species in Chernobyl, establishing their importance for genetic studies into the effects of exposure to long-term, low-dose ionizing radiation. That comes across as an especially clear, or at least understandable, statement about why a paper represents preliminary research.
- NotYourLawyer 4y agoThis is in serious need of an executive summary.
- sohkamyung 4y agoDoes this article about the study from Nature News and Comment help? [1] [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00629-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00629-6
- j16sdiz 4y agoThere are not many interesting results. The author is just trying to rise awareness and, maybe, identify what could be targeted for future researches.
- xpe 4y agoThe Atlantic has a paywalled article that has more of a narrative
- dan-g 4y agoLink: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/chernobyl-dog-radiation-exposure-genome-research/673273/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/chernoby...
- Convolutional 4y agoI have been watching videos of the dead fish, chickens and animals, killed due to the toxic fumes from the East Palestine, Ohio train crash last month. I wonder how that will affect thing there in the coming decades.
- sph 4y agoKyle Hill made a video about this: https://youtu.be/bmVGwOP_zi8 https://youtu.be/bmVGwOP_zi8 I found it fascinating how they seem to have become their own breed with a beautiful monochrome coat, and are very friendly and approachable to humans still.
- ecologist 4y agoI did not read the paper in detail, but it’s not clear to me that the lack of gene flow can be ruled out. In inhabited areas people constantly introduce new genetics from the outside. Maybe the Chernobyl dogs are primarily genetically distinct because there has been very limited gene flow for over three decades. I still expect radiation would have played a large role amongst many other selective forces.