The Wild Boar Paradox - Finally Solved

© Joachim Reddemann Decades after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, wild boar meat is still surprisingly radioactive. The solution to the riddle: an important other cause had been overlooked. The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 had a major impact on the forest ecosystem in Central Europe. After the accident, the consumption of mushrooms was discouraged because of the high radioactive contamination, and the meat of wild animals was also severely affected for several years. While the contamination of deer and roe deer decreased over time as expected, the measured levels of radioactivity in the meat of wild boar remained surprisingly high. The limit values are still being exceed by a significant margin in some samples today. For many years, this "wild boar paradox" was considered unsolved - but now, through elaborate measurements by TU Wien (Vienna) and the Leibniz University of Hannover, an explanation has been found: It is a late aftermath of the nuclear weapons tests from the 1960s.