After the quake: Mutant rabbit born near the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan

Fresh fears over a nuclear leak at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima plant have re-ignited after a rabbit born close to the facility was found to have no ears. Locals have been left wondering whether this earless bunny – found near the facility at the end of last month – was the first sign of side-effects from the nuclear catastrophe.

The Fukushima plant suffered terrible damage when a tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, swept through the facility in March, destroying reactors.

Following a blast at the plant that caused initial leaks, officials warned people living near Fukushima to stay indoors, turn off airconditioning and stop drinking tap water.

Since then experts have been nervously watching radiation levels around the plant. The Japanese government has already more than doubled the estimate for the amount of radiation released by the plant.

The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency also said during a briefing in Tokyo that it was now believed that reactor cores in some of the units melted more quickly than previously thought.

Meanwhile, more than 90,000 people are still living in shelters three months after the tsunami and only a fraction of the debris has been removed. The confirmed death toll from the disaster yesterday reached 15,413 while another 8069 people remain missing.


/Daily Telegraph/