Chernobyl: The disaster has unexpectedly created Europe's largest nature reserve

Some key points in the article. It's worth clicking through to the references cited in the article (e.g. the research on contaminated plants):

- The Exclusion Zone covers an area of around 2,800 sq km - and seems to have undergone a rewilding transformation

- Some of the animals that have grown in population: lynx, bison, boar, elk, roe deer, and wolves

- Recent plant research shows that contamination of wheat, rye, oats and barley grown near the area are still above acceptable levels

- James Smith from the University of Portsmouth, who has conducted research on wildlife in the area, says: "Ukrainian and Belarussian researchers have recorded hundreds of plant and animal species in the zone, including more than 60 [rare] species"

- Ukraine's state authorities said in 2011 that the area could be occupied within 320 years, while Greenpeace and Chernobyl director both said more recently that it would likely be upwards of 20,000 years