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Fears are growing in Sweden over packs of radioactive wild boar moving north, ravaging forests and farmland

One animal shot by hunters had more than 10 times the safe level of radiation, said to have been caused by a cloud of radioactive dust that blew in after the Chernobyl disaster 31 years ago, depositing caesium-137 in the ground. Ulf Frykman, an environmental consultant, has warned hunters in Gavle, 100 miles north of Stockholm, of “extremely high” radiation levels among local boar.

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“This is the highest level we’ve ever measured,” he told The Daily Telegraph, after testing a beast in nearby Tarnsjo.

As the soil in some areas north of Tarnsjo is more contaminated than other areas, radiation levels among boar are expected to rise. Wild boar feeding habits mean they have a greater exposure to the caesium than other game animals. “Wild boar root around in the earth searching for food and all the caesium stays in the ground,” Mr Frykman explained. “Deer and elk eat up in the bushes and you do not have not so much caesium there.”

The local farmers’ association fears the high radiation in the animals will stop hunters shooting them, causing the population to spiral with more of them damaging forests and crops.