Reports of blue canines in Chernobyl have surfaced, leading some to believe the animals are glowing like a light bulb. But no they're not radioactive.
Researchers confirmed that the blue dogs aren't radioactive. In fact, the color of the animals has nothing to do with radiation in the area. Reports first surfaced in October at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. Dogs of Chernobyl shared pictures of the canines online.
The photos went viral, with some questioning if the dogs were radioactive. However, scientist Timothy A. Mousseau has an answer. In a Nov. 13 Facebook post, the scientist explained the real cause. He explained, "Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the blue dye likely came from a tipped over portapotty where the dogs were rolling around in the poop as dogs are prone to do (think cat litter box!). The blue coloration was simply a sign of the dog's unsanitary behavior! As any dog owner knows, most dogs will eat just about anything, including feces!"
Chernobyl Mystery Solved
So definitely gross, but at least it's not radiation. Likewise, the scientist confirmed that no dogs or wolves in the region have developed any mutations or special abilities. Truth is more boring than fiction.
He continued, "The scientific literature has only conclusively demonstrated that there are two genetically distinct populations of semi-feral dogs in the Chernobyl zone, one around the nuclear power plant, and another in and around the town of Chornobyl, some 4 miles south of the plant."
He also wrote, "The genetic studies indicate that most of these dogs are the descendants of the pets that people were forced to leave behind at the time of the nuclear disaster in 1986 and that since that time, there has been very little migration between the two populations, allowing them to evolve independently of each other, as well as independently of other dogs in the surrounding regions. Effectively, these two populations exist as islands separated by unoccupied land. The lack of gene flow into these two populations sets the stage for evolutionary change but to date the scientific reports find no evidence that these populations have evolved in any adaptative fashion in response to their radioactive environments."
