As I get older, I realize something that everyone has predicted about the future is coming true: robots. Sometimes these robots are created to look like humans, and others are created to be hi-tech toys. Some are even created to be robot animals, which so far have included kangaroos, chimpanzees, and ants. But, despite their impressiveness, they are extremely industrial looking, and you can definitley tell that they are not actual living, breathing creatures.

However, the future of robot animals is changing. In the past year, more and more states are investing in Robo-Animals, to aid in the fight against poachers. For example, Maryland has three robotic animals, a deer, a bear, and a turkey, which, after illegal poaching has been reported, are positioned in the woods, with law enforcement near the site, watching everything. The robots are made to look real, so they are usually taxidermied animals from legal hunts, which are then customized with motors so that their heads and tails can move by remote control... As you can imagine, this movement and real fur, antlers, or feathers make the poachers believe that the robots are actually living, tempting them to shoot.

And even though Robo-Animals sounds so far out, it turns out that they work. In October, two men were actually caught trying to shoot a Robo-Deer with crossbows in Maryland. Thanks to the robot, the men were consequently arrested, and although most of their charges were ultimately dropped, both served a month of jail time and were barred from further hunting. Plus, one of the men caught had already been arrested for illegally poaching in two states before Robo-Deer came into the picture, so he was further banned from hunting in 45 states, until the year of 2023.

So, even though you might be afraid of the robots, or think robotic animals are silly, Robo-Animals have proved that they should be a player in the game. The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust even donates the robot animals to anti-poaching organizations, with the hopes that we can significantly descrease the amount of illegal poaching everywhere. Moreover, if Robo-Animals catch on, there could be room to build them internationally, where animals like rhinoceroses and elephants can be motorized. Robo-Animals such as those have the possibilty to take on severe, international issues, such as rhino horn and ivory poaching.

Overall, don't be scared of robots, they can actually help!