Radioactive Boar On The Rise In Germany

Radioactive wild boars population increases. In recent years, the inhabitants of wild boars have skyrocketed in Germany. These wild boars infected by radioactive material left from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.

Population sizes are rising, and so has the total number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Since 2007, the Government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar has quadrupled. Nearly a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine, a large amount of Germany's wild boar population remnants slightly radioactive.

According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, nearly $555,000 were paid out to hunters in 2009 in return for wild boar meat that was too infected by radiation to be sold for consumption. This amount is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007. "In the last couple of years, wild boar has quickly multiplied," stated a spokesman from the Environment Ministry. "Not only is there more corn being farmed, but warmer winters have also contributed to a boar explosion."

Wild boars are extremely susceptible to radioactive contamination due to their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are exceptionally efficient at absorbing radioactivity. "In the regions where it is mainly problematic, all boar that are shot are checked for radiation," stated Andreas Leppmann, from the German Hunting Federation. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.