Fukushima disaster has created boar-pig hybrids, scientists say

Japan's catastrophic Fukushima disaster in 2011 has resulted in a unique species of boar-pig, a new study reveals. Researchers investigating the effects of the nuclear disaster on animals in the area report that radiation has had no adverse effects on their genetics. However, wild boars (Sus scrofa leucomystax) have proliferated in the area, after being left to roam freely from the lack of humans. The boars have bred with domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) that escaped from nearby properties after farmers had to flee, creating a new hybrid species. Rare spotted wild boar observed inside the evacuated area of Fukushima, Japan, indicative of the'introgression' - the transfer of genetic information from one species to another - with domestic pigs Images from remotely-operated cameras indicate wildlife is flourishing in Fukushima's exclusion zone. Wildlife ecologist James Beasley of the University of Georgia and colleagues used a network of 106 remote cameras to capture images of the wildlife in the area over a four-month period.