A rural official in Japan shows off a mechanical Monster Wolf, invented to frighten away wildlife.
Credit: © Toru Yamanaka, Getty Images

The Japanese motion picture Gojira (1954) introduced one of the most recognizable monsters in popular culture, often called by its American name, Godzilla. In the film, the giant, dinosaurlike monster goes on a destructive rampage through Tokyo. Now, Japan has a new monster—but, unlike Godzilla, this monster protects the country’s people.

This fall, officials in the city of Takikawa—on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido—installed two mechanical wolves near a residential neighborhood in which bears had injured or killed people in recent months. Wild bears in search of food had been entering areas on the edge of Takikawa, walking through yards and rummaging through trash. Rural areas often serve as barriers between the wilderness and urban areas. But, as rural populations shrink, so too does the barrier between wilderness and populated areas.

Each Monster Wolf, as the machines are called, looks a lot like a normal wolf, if you ignore the metal legs and flashing red eyes. A Monster Wolf is 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and just under 3 feet (0.9 meter) tall. Along with its fake fur and bared fangs, the Monster Wolf shares perhaps the wolf’s most distinctive feature, an eerie howl. The Monster Wolf’s head has motion detectors that are triggered when intruders approach. The wolf then produces howling, screeching sounds. Other frightening noises the robot can imitate include a dog’s bark, a hunter’s voice, and gunshots.

The mechanical wolves in Takikawa are not the country’s first. Since the Monster Wolf was created in 2016, more than 70 of them have been installed in communities across Japan. The creations have previously scared off such animals as deer and monkeys, which have been filmed leaping away from the mechanical nightmares. Since the wolves showed up in Takikawa, there have been no bear sightings.

April 3, 2019

In February, the United States National Park Service announced its newest addition: Indiana Dunes National Park. Located along the shores of Lake Michigan in northern Indiana, the national park’s creation was the result of a conservation effort that began more than 100 years ago.

Indiana Dunes National Park includes numerous beaches along the shores of Lake Michigan. Credit: Pixabay

In the early 1900′s, the southern shores of Lake Michigan near Chicago were booming with new steel mills and electric power plants. The industrial development took its toll on the natural ecosystems of the lakeshore, however. In 1908, a group of conservationists created the Prairie Club of Chicago to help protect the area’s wildlife and natural landscapes. After the forming of the National Park Service in 1916, the Prairie Club and other groups pushed for the creation of a “Sand Dunes National Park” in nearby northern Indiana.

In 1917, plans for the national park were interrupted by the U.S. entry into World War I (1914-1918). The war effort put heavy precedence on industrial production, and conservation efforts were pushed aside. In 1926, the creation of Indiana Dunes State Park protected some areas, but conservationists continued to push for a larger national park. The Great Depression of the 1930′s and U.S. involvement in World War II (1939-1945) delayed the park’s expansion until 1966, when it became the larger Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The protected area was then expanded several times before earning national park status in 2019.

Indiana Dunes National Park protects some 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares) of dunes, oak savannas, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. It also contains 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and beaches. More than 1,100 species of flowering plants and ferns live in the park, as do hundreds of species of amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals, and reptiles. The park is home to an important great blue heron rookery (breeding ground) and large populations of coyotes and white-tailed deer.

Indiana Dunes National Park also includes five historic homes that were relocated from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. At the time of the fair, the homes demonstrated innovative architectural design, experimental materials, and such new technologies as central air conditioning and dishwashers.

February 25, 2019

Arizona’s spectacular Grand Canyon National Park celebrates its 100th birthday in 2019. Credit: © Digital Vision/SuperStock

To mark the anniversary, the park worked with Arizona State University and other partners to create the Grand Canyon Centennial Project—also known as “100 Years of Grand”—a series of programs at the park and online throughout 2019. On February 26, a special Founder’s Day Centennial Celebration at the park will include cultural, educational, and musical programs. In the following months, special events will highlight President Theodore Roosevelt (who created the Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908), the past and present efforts to map the massive canyon, and the history of the park. Traditional Native American arts and crafts will be demonstrated and presented all year long by the Desert View Cultural Demonstrators, members of the Grand Canyon’s 11 traditionally associated native peoples.

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Grand Canyon National Park Celebrates its centennial on Feb. 26, 2019. Credit: National Park Service

Various Native American cultures have lived in the Grand Canyon during the last 4,000 years. Today, about 450 members of the Havasupai people live on a reservation in a side canyon called Havasu Canyon. Other main Native American groups of the Grand Canyon include the Hopi, Navajo, Paiute, and Zuni. In 1540, a group of Spanish explorers led by García López de Cárdenas became the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon. They were part of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado‘s expedition to the area. In 1869, the American geologist John Wesley Powell led a river expedition through the vast canyon, which he named the Grand Canyon. A forest preserve was created in the Grand Canyon in 1893.

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This map shows the location of the Grand Canyon National Park in northwest Arizona. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

About 5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park every year. The majority of visitors drive along park roads and stop at scenic viewing points about the Grand Canyon. Visitors may also walk along the canyon’s rim. Many tourists hike along trails in the park. Some people ride mules into the canyon, and others enter by boat or raft on the Colorado River.

Grand Canyon National Park is home to a wide range of mammals, including bats, desert bighorn sheep, American bison, coyotes, elk, mountain lions, mule deer, and skunks. More than 450 species of birds live in the park, and reptiles such as gila monsters, short-horned lizards, and several species of snakes are commonly seen. Varied plant populations thrive in the park’s desert scrub, grassland, meadow, woodland, and high elevation communities.

January 11, 2018

The axolotl, an unusual Mexican salamander, is one of the most studied animals in the world. It is also one of the most endangered animal species, and the axolotl may soon be extinct in the wild. Axolotls are popular as pets kept in home aquariums, and they are used in research laboratories worldwide. But in the wild, the amphibian’s numbers are depressingly small and getting smaller.

The axolotl is an unusual salamander with gills on the outside and a large tail fin. Unlike most salamanders, axolotls remain in the water throughout their lives. Credit: © Arco Images/Alamy Images

Axolotls are large compared with most salamanders. Axolotls can reach 12 inches (30 centimeters) long. The adult axolotl has a large tail fin and feathery external gills that extend out from behind the head. These characteristics are common to salamander larvae (young), which live in water. Most adult salamanders lose these features when they move to live on land. Adult axolotls, however, retain the gills and continue to live in the water. The axolotl is an example of pedomorphism <<PEE doh MAWR fihz uhm>>, the retention of juvenile characteristics by an adult. It’s as if they never grow up!

Scientists study the axolotl for its remarkable ability to regenerate body parts. The animals can grow back missing limbs, tails, organs, parts of the eye, and even portions of the brain. This ability makes the animal an important lab model in the study of tissue repair and development, as well as in the search for a cure for cancer. Axolotls are simple to study: they have very large cells and thrive in captivity. In the early 1900’s, axolotls were essential to understanding how organs develop and function in vertebrates (animals with backbones). Axolotls helped scientists unravel the causes of spina bifida in humans. In spina bifida, the spinal cord does not form properly and the vertebrae and skin cannot form around it.

In the wild, however, axolotls are having a much tougher time of it. The axolotl once thrived in lakes Chalco and Xochimilco in the area of Tenochtitlan, the ancient capital of the Aztec Empire and current site of Mexico City. The lakes do not exist anymore, and the few remaining wild axolotls live in the canals and other wetlands of the sprawling Mexican capital. These waters are badly polluted, however, by human waste, ammonia, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. Axolotls are defenseless against these lethal forms of pollution.

Invasive fish species such as carp, perch, and tilapia are also reducing wild axolotl numbers, competing with the unique amphibians for food and living space. To help preserve and expand the axolotl’s shrinking habitat, scientists are trying to revitalize traditional farming techniques that create floating islands in the canals and wetlands. These organic farming islands provide a healthy habitat for the axolotls, and they also help filter the polluted water. Whether or not this will be enough to save the axolotl from extinction in the wild remains to be seen.