A Japanese firm making ferocious-looking robot wolves is being swamped by orders after record numbers of fatal bear attacks last year.
“Monster Wolf” is an animatronic scarecrow with flashing red eyes that howls and growls menacingly to scare away wild animals.
Ohta Seiki, the Hokkaido-based firm that makes the devices, has already received about 50 orders this year, more than the usual volume for an entire year.
“We make them by hand. We cannot make them fast enough now. We are asking our customers to wait two to three months,” company president Yuji Ohta told reporters.
“Awareness of bear safety and measures against wildlife damage [on farm products] improved. There was also a growing recognition that our product is effective in dealing with bears,” Ohta said.
