nuclear-news

Chernobyl’s radiation still there in Europe’s wild boars

Radioactive Boars From Chernobyl Are Still Wandering Around Germany, Sarah Zhang, http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/09/radioactive-boars-from-chernobyl-are-still-wandering-around-germany/4 Sept 14 Nearly 30 years later, radiation from Chernobyl still scars the landscape. Perhaps most remarkably, some of that radiation travelled hundreds of kilometres downwind, settled into the soil, and moved up through the food chain. So now we have radioactive wild boars, still roaming around Germany causing trouble.

Since 2012, according to the Telegraph, the state government of Saxony has required that boars hunted for food be tested for radiation. One in three regularly exceeds the safety limit. How did wild boars born decades after the Chernobyl disaster become radioactive? The Telegraph explains:

Even though Saxony lies some 700 miles from Chernobyl, wind and rain carried the radioactivity across western Europe, and soil contamination was found even further away, in France.

Wild boar are thought to be particularly affected because they root through the soil for food, and feed on mushrooms and underground truffles that store radiation. Many mushrooms from the affected areas are also believed to be unfit for human consumption.

Wild radioactive boars may be dangerous to eat, but wild boars in general are a menace across Germany. They’re digging up gardens, shutting down the Autobahn, and even attacking the occasional poor soul. Read more about the boars at the Telegraph.

September 4, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Germany