Japanese town sends growling “Monster Wolf” robots to drive off wild bears
A town in northern Japan has recently been tormented by plenty of wild bears, meandering around neighborhoods and petrifying occupants. While trying to forestall assaults, the town of Takikawa has now installed terrifying robotic wolves to howl at the bears and alarm them off, Reuters reports.
The inhabitants of Takikawa, situated on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, have been progressively worried by the potential of bear attacks, as sightings in the nation hit a five-year high, as indicated by national broadcaster NHK. There have been many revealed attacks this year, two of them lethal, prompting a crisis government meeting a month ago to address the issue.
Conservationists speculate the expansion in bear assaults might be because of a lack of acorns in the wild, which has made the bears inch nearer to urban areas looking for food in front of hibernation. Deforestation and resulting habitat loss have just exacerbated the issue, as indicated by the World Wildlife Fund.
Accordingly, the town bought and installed a couple of the so-called “Monster Wolf” robots in September. Authorities recently said there have been zero reports of bear experiences since.
The scarecrow-like robots have shaggy bodies, four legs, blond manes and glowing red eyes. In the event that the motion detectors are activated, they move their heads, flash the lights in their eyes and project up to 60 equally-horrifying sounds, including howls.
Ohta Seiki, the organization behind the machine, revealed to Reuters that it has sold almost 70 of the robots since 2018. They are set in different areas around Japan to shield yields and neighborhoods from wild creatures.
As per The Mainichi paper, the Takikawa robots mark the first occasion when they have been introduced before houses trying to ensure people.
“We want to let the bears know, ‘Human settlements aren’t where you live,’ and help with the co-existence of bears and people,” Yuji Ota, the head of Ohta Seiki, told The Mainichi.
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