For the first time in twenty years, six white storks were spotted together in Chernobyl
A unique natural event took place in the center of Chernobyl: six white storks landed on the roof of an administrative building near the “Star of Polyn” memorial. This is a sensational occurrence, as the last time white storks nested in the city itself was twenty years ago.
This was reported by the Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve.
Scientists at the Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve note that over the past two decades, storks in the city could only be seen during migration—they did not stay for long.
“The appearance of six birds at once in the central part of the city may indicate new changes in the local population and opens up interesting prospects for further research,” the reserve’s statement reads.
Experts emphasize that the stork has always been a symbol of rebirth and hope in Ukrainian culture. The fact that the birds are once again choosing Chernobyl as a stopover, and possibly for future nesting, is an important signal for the restoration of the exclusion zone’s ecosystem.
As a reminder, in Poltava Oblast, at the well-known nest where the stork pair Kvitka and Lel formed, an interesting event also took place: the previous occupants—Hrytsyk and Odarka—returned. A real drama unfolded during their return to the nest, but harmony among the birds was eventually restored.
As a reminder, the previous owners—Odarka and Hrytsyk—returned on April 5–6 to the nest in the Pyriatyn National Nature Park, where a new pair of storks—Kvitka and Lel—had formed on April 2.
