Radioactive Boar Roam Italy

A group of wild boar that had been tainted with nuclear radiation was found in Italy's Piedmont region this March, but further investigation has turned up more of the "radioactive" boar in other areas.

According to The Local, wild boar is a luxury meat in Italian butcher shops, and the wild boar is the symbol of the city of Milan. 27 wild boar in Piedmont were found to be contaminated with a radioactive isotope in March, and officials announced that they just confirmed at least two more contaminated boar in Trieste, over 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. Similarly contaminated boars are reported to have been found in Austria and Bavaria as well. The exact amount of contamination was not specified, but it was over the 600 becquerels per kilogram limit above which meat cannot be sold commercially.

According to the Agency for the Protection of the Environment, the radioactive contamination is likely due to fallout from the Chernobyl 1986, but the Ministry of Health says there is no reason for people to be concerned by the discovery. In order for a person to experience negative effects, he or she would have to eat 10-15 kilograms of meat tainted at a level of 5,000 becquerels per kilogram, which the ministry said was "highly improbable."

"The situation should not arouse excessive worry among the population," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.