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Radioactive Wild Boars Still Roaming the Forests of Germany

An anonymous reader writes 28 years after the Chernobyl accident, tests have found that more than one in three Saxony boars give off such high levels of radiation that they are unfit for consumption. In 2009 almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated to be sold. "It doesn't cover the loss from game sales, but at least it covers the cost of disposal," says Steffen Richter, the head of the Saxon State Hunters Association.

3 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Interesting line from TFA: by Ihlosi · · Score: 5, Informative
    Chernobyl was a long time ago.

    It was only about one half-life (Cs-137) ago.

    Also, Cs-137 gets washed to lower soil layers very slowly (a few millimeters per year).

  2. Re:Interesting line from TFA: by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mushrooms can be used to bioconcentrate metals. Some species prefer cesium:
    http://www.herbmuseum.ca/conte...

  3. Re:Interesting line from TFA: by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems odd that the pigs are too irradiated to eat but seem to thrive and breed just fine.

    Most people these days prefer to live a good deal longer than their earliest possible breeding time.