nuclear-news

The hybrid boars of Fukushima

 “Once people were gone, the boar took over,” explains Donovan Anderson, a
researcher at Fukushima University in Japan. His genetic study of the wild
boar that roam in an area largely abandoned after Japan’s 2011 nuclear
disaster – has revealed how the animals have thrived. Using DNA samples, he
also discovered that boar have bred with domestic pigs that escaped from
farms. This has created wild pig-boar hybrids that now inhabit the zone.
“While the radiation hasn’t caused a genetic effect, the invasive domestic
pig species has,” Mr Anderson explained.

 BBC 30th June 2021

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57655720

July 1, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Japan