Japan Deploys AI, Drones and $4,000 Wolf Robots as Bear Attacks Hit 13 Deaths
Updated
Updated · CNN · Sep 1
Japan Deploys AI, Drones and $4,000 Wolf Robots as Bear Attacks Hit 13 Deaths
1 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 1
Summary
13 people died and more than 220 were injured in bear attacks in Japan between April 2025 and March 2026, a record toll that has pushed authorities to expand tech-based deterrence before the fall feeding season.
50,000 bear sightings last year reflected a broader surge driven by rural depopulation, looser hunting pressure and climate-linked food shortages that are drawing bears toward towns and human rubbish.
Gunma, Toyama and Ishikawa have installed AI camera systems to spot bears near residential areas, while Hokkaido's Shintotsukawa uses drones that can launch within 10 minutes to track animals and help drive them away.
Monster Wolf, a solar-powered animatronic deterrent priced at about $4,000, has seen sales double since urban bear sightings rose last year, though engineers say AI, drones and robots remain costly and hard to scale nationwide.
Japan's 2026 environment white paper called bears a serious public-safety threat and set a culling roadmap to cut populations to 62%-67% of current levels in some prefectures by 2030, even as researchers promote nonlethal tools such as bear dogs and the 6 million-user Kumamap tracker.