Strange Sounds
June 30, 2021
A genetic study found that wild boar cross-bred with domestic pigs escaped from local farms in areas deserted by humans after a tsunami and an earthquake triggered the 2011 crisis at Fukushima nuclear power plant and displaced 160,000 people.
For years, hunters have been tracking down radioactive boar, which number in their hundreds and registered levels of the radioactive element caesium-137 300 times higher than is safe.
Scientists at Fukushima University used genetic testing to track the impact of the radiation on wildlife in a regional DNA investigation.