Japan’s robot wolf sells out as record bear attacks drive demand

bbookofjoe about 4 hours ago 36 commentsRead Article on independent.co.uk

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Discussion (36 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

freetime2•3 minutes ago

With AI seemingly coming for my job, I've been thinking about what I want to do for the next phase of my career. Today I have found the answer - Monster Wolf builder!

rwmj•about 3 hours ago

A friend who lives there sent me this photo of a bear roaming an Aomori building from a few days ago. https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/2026051... (https://archive.ph/Z6llc https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/attachment/327729/)

bombcar•about 3 hours ago

I know how this ends; with robot bears fighting off robot wolves whilst we cower underground.

JumpCrisscross•about 2 hours ago

Are there any good robot animatronics for Halloween? I want a wendigo to walk around my yard.

beau_g•about 2 hours ago

We have something close, but unfortunately not at the halloween decoration price point - https://www.satyress.com/

Loughla•about 1 hour ago

Oh hey here's a terrifying robot. Let's give it GIANT FUCKING CHAINSAW HANDS.

bombcar•about 2 hours ago

Given the insane progression in the Home Depot Halloween displays I estimate it’s about two years off - twenty foot tall animatronic skeletons are now table stakes.

cyanydeez•about 2 hours ago

Cant we just invent robot elephants?

towledev•about 3 hours ago

I wonder how the bears would write this headline

edaemon•about 3 hours ago

"TIDE TURNS AGAINST HUMAN TERROR-BOTS"

swiftcoder•about 1 hour ago

Pretty sure I’m going to be seeing that robot wolf in my nightmares…

water-drummer•about 3 hours ago

Thought I was in r/nottheonion for a moment

lukan•about 2 hours ago

Title is click bait.

It is a electronic scarecrow.

Maybe one that moves soon, but even then still not something I would call a robot wolf.

amazingamazing•about 1 hour ago

Are these uniquely effective compared to drones, RC cars, etc?

dudeinjapan•about 3 hours ago

> The robot scarecrows are used to ward off bears in rural areas

Two thoughts on this captioned image: (1) holy $&!# that is horrifying (2) if its designed to ward off bears, isn't it a scarebear?

bitwize•33 minutes ago

I was kinda hoping for Bladewolf from Metal Gear Rising but no. Still pretty scary though, and it makes a variety of intimidating noises like a GEKKO unit!

readonkeyless•about 3 hours ago

Interested to learn about the encroachment into bear territory. Disappointed this article didn't dig more into exactly why this is becoming an increasing problem. Since Japan's population is declining and most younger people moving into larger cities like Tokyo in search of jobs, my assumption would be that there would be less development in more rural areas, not more.

skybrian•about 3 hours ago

> Scientists speculated that the uptick in attacks has been driven by a growing bear population, coupled with the year's bad acorn harvest, USA TODAY previously reported. These conditions created an area "overcrowded with hungry bears," driving the large animals to populated areas in search of food.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2026/05/13/super-m...

hackernews682•about 3 hours ago

Perhaps, because there are less people living in the rural areas, the bears are emboldened to roam more freely, thus increasing the frequency of encounters with the human occupiers.

mc32•about 3 hours ago

But then it’s stated oddly. It’s more like bears are encroaching on human territory rather than people expanding into bear territory.

PlunderBunny•33 minutes ago

See also headlines that refer to “shark infested waters” instead of “human infested waters”.

Barrin92•about 3 hours ago

the fact that young people are moving has meant that money, attention and labor is missing, these days in rural sections of aging and developed countries the expertise and interest in forestry or wildlife management simply isn't there any more. I spent a few months in rural Japan a few years ago and it affected all kinds of jobs. Agriculture, pest control, or even much more mundane repair work. I knew a couple that moved there enticed by low property prices but they had to wait months to get the roof fixed.

AdrianB1•about 1 hour ago

People living in rural areas were capable of fixing most of their houses by themselves. When I grew up I spent most summers in a mountain village where people were self-resilient, I had all sorts of woodworking tools in the shed and other than electricity there was nothing my grandpa was not fixing himself and it was the same for all our neighbours.

Now a couple moving from a city to a rural area needs to learn to do this work or not move to a village. The population decline in most places makes it clear that availability of services is only going to get worse.

bell-cot•about 2 hours ago

> had to wait months to get the roof fixed.

In economic theory, that's an obvious business opportunity.

In the real world.., might you know what barriers a small roofing repair business would face in rural Japan?

freetime2•21 minutes ago

It's hard work. It's dangerous. Many areas get heavy snowfall in the winter which interferes with work. Summers are brutally hot. Many customers in rural areas are living on fixed income, so you are limited in how much you can charge. Commutes to job sites can be long.

My roof was damaged in heavy snowfall this winter and I needed to wait 3 months to get it repaired. And I'm not even really in a rural area. The guy who did the repairs looked to be in his 60s - I don't think many young people are looking to get into this business.

I think most contractors would do better in more densely populated areas where lots of new construction is happening.

CamperBob2•about 1 hour ago

It seems these really are just scarecrows, in that they are rooted to the spot. It's not a robot if it can't move.

hirvi74•about 2 hours ago

I wonder if Japan would need robot wolves had they not wrongfully drove their native wolf species to extinction?

storus•about 1 hour ago

How would native wolves prevent bears from coming down to human settlements?

Loughla•about 1 hour ago

Maybe there would be fewer bears? I honestly don't see the connection either, though.

toast0•about 1 hour ago

The wolves would come to town to get supplies for their friends, the bears?

sidibe•about 1 hour ago

They wouldn't have had to worry about bears or wolves if they had driven them both to extinction like many parts of the world