Venturing deep into the forests and swamps of the abandoned landscape, Gaschak began to spot creatures long since eliminated from the rest of Ukraine and Belarus by hunting and collective farming: wolves, elk, brown bears, and rare birds of prey. His observations helped foster a new notion of the zone, as appealing as it was counterintuitive: demonstrating that nature was apparently capable of healing itself in new and unpredictable ways. In the absence of man, plants and animals were thriving in a radioactive Eden.
