NuClear RabBit: Without Ears Bunny Born Near Fukushima Nuclear Plant Japan

Unlike the Hollywood Sci-Fi movies, not Godzilla, but an Earless Bunny, born near Japan's damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant has become the latest poster child for mutational affect of nuclear radiation exposure.

The Rabbit Without Ears, born in the radiation leakage area of crippled nuclear facility, is raising the fears that contamination from the damaged facility could cause genetic mutations, in Japan, the world only country that already has faced two nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War Era.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant Incidence in Japan

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

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

Since then, experts have been nervously watching radiation levels in the area around the plant to determine the extent of the leak. Earlier this week it was revealed the Japanese government has more than doubled the estimate for the amount of radiation released by the plant.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency - a government watchdog - also said during a briefing in Tokyo that it is now believed that reactor cores in some of the units at the plant melted more quickly than previously thought.

Nuclear Rabbit: Without Ears Bunny Born Viral Video

A video of the bunny was posted on YouTube and has quickly spread as an internet viral, labeled the 'Nuclear Rabbit'.

Nuclear Rabbit: Is Without Ears Bunny is Really a Mutation

Though the longterm environmental effects remain unclear, there is no denying that the radiation emitting from Fukushima Dai-ichi, about 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, poses a major health risk. However it's hard to say whether this earless bunny birth can be blamed on radiation.

While high doses of radiation can cause cancer and other major health problems, radiation experts believe the likelihood of the rabbit's strange features being a result of nuclear mutation is very slim.

As an expert, Professor F. Ward Whicker of Colorado State University Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences comments:

Yes, radiation can cause mutations that can be occasionally expressed as obvious birth defects, such as shown in the video, However, to say this is the result of contamination from the Fukushima accident is a stretch, because natural radiation, as well as many other chemical substances in the environment and other factors, can also be mutagenic.