Radioactive Pigs Attack Germany - No, Really

"Radioactive Boars Rampaging Through Germany"
FOXNews (August 3, 2010)

"It sounds like the plot of a B-movie, yet it's bizarrely true: Radioactive boars are on the loose and thriving in Germany's forests.

"A succession of mild winters has left Germany scrambling to deal with a skyrocketing wild boar population. Tales of swarming beasts rampaging through city streets and attacking citizens occur with alarming regularity.

"The problem has been aggravated by the lingering effects of the Chernobyl disaster from twenty-five years ago; a large portion of the wild animals are contaminated by radioactivity...."

It's no joke.

Fallout from Chernobyl (26 April 1986) left at least some of Germany's vegetation radioactive. Mushrooms and truffles are particularly good at soaking up radioactive material, and wild boars particularly like mushrooms and truffles. Which leaves the critters too radioactive for us to eat safely.

Boars shot by hunters have to be checked for radioactivity - and the German government, by their laws, is obliged to buy the contaminated meat.

The FOXNews article links to an article in Der Spiegel (English version) on Germany's radioactive boars.

What may be particularly annoying about the situation is that wild boar meat is considered a delicacy in Germany.