Takikawa is a Northern city located on the island of Hokkaido with a population of 41,000 residents, and recently there has been a surge in bear activity in the area. The bears have reportedly become more dangerous as they search for food. The city, unsure of how to handle the unusual bear activity, especially as the bears become hungry and more aggressive before entering hibernation in November, has landed on the use of robotic wolves.
The wolves have been described as “monster-like” based on their gnarly appearance, and bright white fangs. But, the robots aren’t there just to look intimidating, they sound intimidating as well!
The robots have 60 different sounds, ranging from human voices and gunshots to a wolves’ bark, changing frequently so that the bears do not grow comfortable around the robotic wolves.
Yuji Ohta, the President of Ohta Seiki, the company responsible for these fierce robots says; “We have included many methods in its design to drive off bears, so I am confident it will be effective. If this can help create an environment that bears and people can both live in, I will be happy.”
Well, we hope it continues to work well for all the bears (and humans) in the area!
Interested in more about bears and hibernation? Crawl on over here to learn about a fossilized bear found 39,000 years later!
