Nearly three decades after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, one in three wild boars in Germany are still too radioactive for humans to consume, studies show.

Officials in Saxony, a state in Eastern Germany, have tested 752 wild boars since 2012 and found 297 contained unsafe levels of radioactivity. The legal radiation limit for human consumption is 600 becquerels per kilogram, and some boars registered radiation of more than 9,800 becquerels per kilogram, Quartz reported. That's more than 15 times the legal limit.

The radioactivity is thought to originate from the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, located nearly 700 miles away. In 1986, a nuclear explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine released radioactive particles into the atmosphere, contaminating air and soil across Europe.

Wild boar are hunted and consumed as a delicacy in Germany. Experts say the animal is particularly prone to radiation exposure due to its diet of mushrooms and other underground fungi, which are deeply impacted by soil contamination.

The radioactive boar problem comes at a major expense for Germany, as the government compensates hunters for the cost of disposing animals that are unfit to eat. The policy cost the country $555,000 in 2009 alone, according to Quartz.

According to The Telegraph's report, at current contamination levels the problem could persist for another 50 years at least.