Glaring ominously over rice paddies, chestnut fields and apple orchards dotting Japan’s rural landscape, shaggy mechanical beasts with flashing red eyes and bared fangs are doing what the creature they’re modeled after can no longer be counted on — protecting farmland from a booming population of wildlife pests such as deer, wild boar and bears.
Called “Monster Wolf,” these robotic canines are the brainchild of Ohta Seiki Co. and were created in response to the growing menace of crop raiders that inflict billions of yen in damages annually. The solar battery-powered wolf can turn its head from side to side and make dozens of varieties of howling, barking and gunshot sounds when the motion detectors are activated.
“Some think this is just a gimmick, but the results so far prove it’s working,” says Shushi Sasaki, director of Wolf Kamuy, the company in charge of Monster Wolf’s sales and maintenance. Indeed, sightings of wild bears rummaging for food in Takikawa, a city in Hokkaido, have disappeared since they were introduced last year. Similar success stories are reported in dozens of locations across the nation where the metallic wolves have been deployed.