WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Can Robots Help Catch Poachers?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren vog bom here with another classic episode.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not ready to hand the world over to our

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<v Speaker 1>future robot overlords just yet, but I will say that

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<v Speaker 1>robots can help us do some amazing things. In this episode,

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<v Speaker 1>we talk about how they can help law enforcement save

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<v Speaker 1>animals from being killed by poachers. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>vogel bomb Here. It's often hard for law enforcement to

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<v Speaker 1>nab a poacher. There are too few of the former

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<v Speaker 1>and too many of the latter on American state lands.

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<v Speaker 1>But officials now have a tool that's helping to catch

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<v Speaker 1>poachers while listening to chance that an animal has to

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<v Speaker 1>die first. An army of taxidermied robotic wildlife has been

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<v Speaker 1>unleashed across the country to help police and game wardens

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<v Speaker 1>stop poachers. The robot animals are made by companies like

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<v Speaker 1>Custom Robotic Wildlife, which use legally acquired animal hides and

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<v Speaker 1>robotic opponents to create realistic critters. With the touch of

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<v Speaker 1>a remote controlled button, the animals move just enough to

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<v Speaker 1>appear alive a tail twitch or a head turn when

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<v Speaker 1>a poacher lines up a shot on them. At the

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<v Speaker 1>other end, of those buttons are officers hiding in the

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<v Speaker 1>bushes or a truck ready to arrest the poachers. Generally,

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<v Speaker 1>the officers have gotten a tip that poachers are in

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<v Speaker 1>the area, so they know where to place the decoys.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with Brian Wolfs Legal, owner of Wisconsin's custom

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<v Speaker 1>Robotic Wildlife, who's been creating such decoys for law enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>for twenty years. He gets requests almost every day for

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<v Speaker 1>his animals, which range in price from about two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars for a white tailed deer, his most popular animal,

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<v Speaker 1>to nearly five thousand for a moose. Costs include the

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<v Speaker 1>robotics and the packaging. The prices might seem high, but

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<v Speaker 1>molse Legal notes that the animals can be used for

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<v Speaker 1>many years and take many shots before being retired. So

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<v Speaker 1>how good are these robot animals? We also spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Reed, the director of stewardship at the Humane Society

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<v Speaker 1>the Wildlife Land Trust. He's the man in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>its robotic decoy program, which donates robot animals to law

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<v Speaker 1>enforcement agencies. He said, where they have been used very little,

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<v Speaker 1>they're incredibly effective. Where they've been used quite a bit,

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<v Speaker 1>the poachers kind of get used to it. Then the

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<v Speaker 1>game wardens have to change things up a little. That's

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<v Speaker 1>when Wolves Legal gets a call for a new animal

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<v Speaker 1>or one that moves in a different way. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>every year we build something different because the officers say,

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<v Speaker 1>I hear the poachers say, if just the heads and

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<v Speaker 1>tails move, don't shoot. So then we make an ear

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<v Speaker 1>move or a leg move. I'm working on a white

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<v Speaker 1>tailed deer right now for a federal law enforcement officer.

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<v Speaker 1>She wants one that picks up its tail and poops.

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<v Speaker 1>How will they manage that, you ask? Wolves Legal is

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<v Speaker 1>trying a few techniques, he said, We got a little

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<v Speaker 1>Auger system going. I have three kids and they just

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<v Speaker 1>love this because I buy M and M's and they

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<v Speaker 1>get to eat every color except the dark chocolate ones.

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<v Speaker 1>An Auger system is a conveyor system to move materials

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<v Speaker 1>on an incline. And as for the brown M and M's,

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<v Speaker 1>you can probably guess what' there for. Poaching is a

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<v Speaker 1>huge problem in the United States, and the decoys are

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<v Speaker 1>great help. Read with The Humane Society says they're very effective.

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<v Speaker 1>They're used to target specific crimes such as hunting from roadways,

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<v Speaker 1>hunting out of season, and shooting from a motor vehicle.

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<v Speaker 1>The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust has donated more than

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<v Speaker 1>thirty robotic decoys to various enforcement agencies since two thousand four.

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<v Speaker 1>Reid said, in working with game wardens around the country,

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<v Speaker 1>we came to find out these men and women don't

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<v Speaker 1>have the resources they require to do their jobs effectively

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<v Speaker 1>in a lot of cases. The organization plans to continue

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<v Speaker 1>raising funds to donate even more with the goal of

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<v Speaker 1>eventually ending poaching wolves. Legal also builds robotic animals for

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<v Speaker 1>private use. He said, I'm working on a sitting red

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<v Speaker 1>fox for an autistic child with a robotic head and tail.

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<v Speaker 1>He can plug it into the wall and away it goes.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Robotic animals are

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<v Speaker 1>helping catch poachers on how Stuff Work dot com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Karen Kirkpatrick. Breen Stuff is production of by Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with Householpworks dot com and is produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clang. Or more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

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