Boarzilla!

[nancylebov]

A Quarter Century after Chernobyl, Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany

As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.

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Wild boar are particularly susceptible to radioactive contamination due to their predilection for chomping on mushrooms and truffles, which are particularly efficient at absorbing radioactivity. Indeed, whereas radioactivity in some vegetation is expected to continue declining, the contamination of some types of mushrooms and truffles will likely remain the same, and may even rise slightly -- even a quarter century after the Chernobyl accident.

So are they compensating the truffle hunters too?

Link thanks to andrewducker.

ETA: Radiation may be less dangerous than people think.

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I'm thankful that I don't like truffle.

[thette.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I agree with him about radiation safety. I've seen many patients with chronic and some with acute conditions due to radiotherapy.

Sure, chronic diarrhea and pelvic pain beats dying of prostate cancer, but it's still a very harsh medicine.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I suggest the upper limit might be reset at a lifetime total of 5 sieverts, at no more than 0.1 sievert per month. That would be a fraction of a radiotherapy dose, spread over a lifetime.

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't being bitten by a radioactive boar grant you the ability to sniff out truffles on your own?

[madfilkentist]

To a Fred Small tune:

"Oink! Oink!" "AAAAAAAAA!"
Hot boars on the loose!

[captain-button.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to Global Asylum's upcoming movie "MegaWolf vs. RadioBoar".