Time-dependency of the 137Cs contamination of wild boar from a region in Southern Germany in the years 1998 to 2008

Following the Chernobyl accident, 137Cs contamination levels of wild boar in some districts of Southern Germany are still exceeding thousands of Bq kg−1. While the long term 137Cs concentration in forest plants, mushrooms, and roe deer meat has decreased significantly, for wild boar it has remained constant during the last decade. Between 1998 and 2008, we analysed the muscle meat of 656 wild boars shot in the district (“Landkreis”) Ravensburg. The 137Cs activity concentration showed considerable variability from less than 5 up to 8266 Bq kg−1 and it followed a seasonal pattern, which is attributed to changes in dietary habits, fodder availability, meteorological conditions and specific behaviour of 137Cs in wild boar organism. Tag values for wild boars from the district Ravensburg varied from 0.008 to 0.062 m2 kg−1 during 2000–2008.