Japan is using $4,000 animatronic wolves to scare off bears, and can't make them fast enough
SMRTR summary
Forget scarecrows. Japan is deploying robotic wolves to fight back against a surge in bear attacks that killed 13 people last year, more than double the previous record.
The Monster Wolf, built by Hokkaido-based Ohta Seiki, is part animatronic nightmare, part high-tech deterrent. It howls at 90 decibels, flashes red LED eyes, swings its neck side to side, and cycles through more than 50 recorded sounds so bears never quite get comfortable.
At $4,000 a unit, it's not cheap. But demand has overwhelmed supply, with customers now waiting two to three months for delivery.
The company has been making these wolves since 2016, but Japan's escalating bear crisis has brought urgent new attention. Bear sightings doubled to 50,000 last year, and nearly 15,000 animals were culled.
Ohta Seiki is now developing a handheld version for hikers and schoolchildren, and eyeing AI-powered cameras for future models.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to TechSpot.
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