Deer Truffles – The Dominant Source of Radiocaesium Contamination of Wild Boar

Radiocaesium contamination of wild boar (Sus scrofa) still achieves several ten thousands Bq kg fresh weight (FW) in some areas of Germany, concurrently exhibiting an extraordinary variability. In the Bavarian Forest, for instance, activity levels ranged between 82 and 40,000 Bq kg FW in 2004, with maximum and minimum values occurring at almost the same location within one week (Fielitz, 2005). Whereas radiocaesium levels of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus), apart from seasonal variations, are continuously decreasing, those of wild boar are either remaining fairly constant or even increasing (Fielitz, 2005; Hohmann and Huckschlag, 2005; Klemt and Zibold, 2005).