Robot wolf: Japan’s found a technological answer to an ancient problem

MY what big eyes you have. A big nose. Big teeth ... And is that a solar cell I see you attached to? Meet Japan’s robotic shepherd. For farmers, it’s a demon of a crop saver.

The menacing features of Japan's robotic wolf are designed to scare local wild boars away from sensitive crops.

THE menace is real.

It’s four legged. It’s short. It’s stocky. It has tusks and cloven hoofs.

For Japanese farmers, wild boars are both a menace to themselves and their crops.

They’ve been ravaging chestnut crops. Trampling through rice.

And there’s not much they’re afraid of.

So, in typically Japanese fashion, angry farmers turned to technology for a solution.

At first glance, this robotic solution seems like a Halloween stunt.

But it has proven to be very good at its job.

It stalks menacingly through the grass.

Its eyes gleam fiercely.

And its enormous maw emits a multitude of spinechilling growls.

But its motion is robotic.

Its eyes are LEDs.

And its harrowing growls a selection of some 48 prerecorded threats.

A prototype was put on the job in July.

Farmers were despairing at the damage being done by rampant wild boars.

It’s their own fault.

They killed off the local predator - the Hokkaido wolf - in the 1800s through strychnine-laced bait.

But with a solar-powered demonic wolf back on patrol, their crop losses fell dramatically.

It could only roam about one kilometre on a full charge. But its sensors spur it into an aggressive posture whenever it senses an animal nearby.

Patrolling one kilometre per night proved more than effective enough. And its batteries can be recharged by solar panels

Now all the farmers want one.

Agricultural cooperative association JA Kisarazu-shi head Chikao Umezawa says the robot will enter full production next month.

It’s more efficient than an electric fence, he says.

While it may look ungainly on its aluminium legs, Japanese farmers say this robotic wolf is more cost effective than installing electric fences all around their crops.