TOKYO: A Japanese company making ferocious-looking robot wolves is being swamped by orders after record numbers of fatal bear attacks on humans last year.

“Monster Wolf” is an animatoronic 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 around 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 said.

“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. Orders come mostly from farmers, operat­ors of golf courses and people working outside in rural areas such as in construction.

Bears killed 13 people across Japan in 2025-2026, more than twice the previous high.

More than 50,000 bear sightings were recorded nationwide, more than double the previous record set two years before, according to official data. The animals were seen entering homes, roaming near schools and rampaging through supermarkets and hot spring resorts on an almost daily basis.

The number of bears captured and then culled nearly tripled from a year earlier to 14,601, also marking an all-time high. Some northern regions also reported in April more than four times as many sightings as last year as the animals emerge from hibernation, local media said.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026