Hunter measures alarmingly high radioactive contamination in wild boar in Bavaria - Green politicians warn of danger
Created: 2022-01-20 17:23
By: Verena Moeckl
Even 36 years after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, mushrooms and wild boar in the forests of Bavaria are still contaminated.
Wild boars in particular are radioactive.
Miesbach/Bad Tölz - A hunter from southern Upper Bavaria was amazed when he examined his prey more closely.
The wild boar he killed was radioactive.
And not just a little.
The wild animal had more than 1,200 becquerels per kilogram, announced Greens member of the Bundestag Karl Bär on Twitter and posted a picture of the dead wild boar.
Bär had received the information from the hunter, who now has to dispose of his contaminated catch.
If hunters cover up the readings and still put the meat on the market, they can end up behind bars for up to two years.
In the EU, wild boar meat* can be sold up to a maximum of 600 becquerels per kilogram.
So this magnificent specimen had more than twice the radioactive contamination.
According to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, between 2017 and 2020 peak values of around 17,000 becquerel per kilogram of boar were measured in the Bavarian Forest*.
The sad leaders are wild boar, followed by roe deer and deer.
The animals are particularly badly affected in the forests of Swabia, in the east and in southern Upper Bavaria.
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How is it that wild boar in the forests of Bavaria are so highly contaminated?
The search for clues leads to the former Soviet republic after Chernobyl.
There, on April 26, 1986, the hitherto largest nuclear catastrophe, the super meltdown, occurred.
The reactor accident triggered an explosion, as a result of which huge amounts of radioactive substances were catapulted into the atmosphere - including the highly radioactive isotope cesium-137.
The radioactive cloud moved over Europe in the days after the reactor accident.
Radioactive substances rained down - also in Germany.
The soils in these so-called fallout regions have been contaminated ever since.
Bayern was hit particularly hard.
Radiated: Bavaria's wild boars are still radioactive 36 years after the reactor accident in Chernobyl.
© Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert / dpa / dpa central image
"Anyone who wants to reduce their personal exposure should refrain from excessive consumption of self-killed game and self-gathered mushrooms* in the more heavily contaminated areas of Germany," advises the Federal Office for Radiation Protection on its website.
But venison lovers need have no worries.
Since the reactor accident in Chernobyl, wild boar meat has to be checked before it can be sold.
As the Bavarian Hunting Association reports on its website, 124 measuring stations are available for this purpose.
More than in any other federal state in Germany.
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Why are wild boars still radioactive 36 years after Chernobyl?
The radioactive cesium -137 decays very slowly.
The half-life is 30 years.
This becomes a problem for ecosystems such as forests and moors, because the radioactive substance can remain on the surface of acidic soil for a particularly long time.
Mushrooms are particularly badly affected.
And they are the main food of wild boar.
The Bavarian State Hunting Association writes in a press release that the level of cesium -137 is particularly high from November to May.
According to the Bavarian Hunting Club, the prospects for the future are not exactly rosy.
"Due to the long half-life of 137-caesium, a significant reduction in exposure is not to be expected in the near future either."
The EU wants to classify nuclear power as green.
The Federal Office warns of the plans for a green nuclear label *.
In Chernobyl there is movement under the rubble*.
The radiation increases there.
*Merkur.de/bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA