Military

TASER announces wildlife management stungun

TASER Wildlife Electronic Control Device (ECD)
TASER Wildlife Electronic Control Device (ECD)

We've seen TASER electroshock weapons designed for law enforcement, personal protection and even riot control, but in all of the above cases, it's a human on the receiving end. Now the company has a different target in sight for its "less lethal" technology ... and it's one that could create as much controversy as its predecessors – the TASER Wildlife Electronic Control Device (ECD).

Introduced at this week's SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the TASER Wildlife ECD has been developed as an alternative tool for less effective methods of animal control used by wildlife professionals like chemical or acoustic repellents. It is designed for use on large animals like bears and elk.

"The TASER Wildlife ECD is an extension of TASER's technology to save animal lives," said Rick Smith, CEO and co-founder of TASER International. "It is designed to incapacitate larger animals more effectively and safer than current animal control tools."

The wildlife specific model is a three-shot, semi-automatic that can deliver a pulse from up to 35 feet (10.6 m) away. It's been ruggedized to stand-up to sea spray, rain, dust and short-term water submersion, and has the same logging and dual range laser targeting systems as the TASER X3 on which it is based. The MSRP has been set at US$2,000.

The company says that while it "believes that the modification of human behavior is the key to the management of human-animal conflicts, it sometimes becomes necessary for wildlife managers to utilize tools to modify animal behavior." Programs are being developed to train wildlife professionals in the safe use of these ECDs, but like any weapon, it's open misuse by humans and controversy is most likely to arise when it falls into the hands of untrained, unprofessional users.

Of course, we can't ask even smarter than average bears what they think.

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9 comments
VoiceofReason
Okay, a few comments. How can you test it without being cruel to animals. Another thing is, one of the main reasons tasers work is that humans understand the concept of \"if I stop, it will stop hurting\". Animals don\'t much of the time.
Finally, who is testing it on Yogi first? Not me.
alcalde
Bigfoot is so going down!
Alan Belardinelli
If you had the choice between carrying regular- or bear-strength attack deterrent, what would you choose? I have a sneaking suspiscion that there will be people who buy this model and paint it to look like one that is meant for people...
MockingBird TheWizard
animals DO understand if the pain is here, go elsewhere. it\'s not a behavior mod to keep the cat from scratching the couch. if it\'ll scare the bejeezus out of a bear or mountain lion so that it decides to put some distance between itself and whatever is causing it discomfort. the other option is putting a 700 grain slug from a SW500 and a basketball sized hole into it. so... when you look at the options, maybe the stun gun isn\'t so bad.
BJG
Ha, animals don\'t need to understand a darned thing about the connection between the pain and what\'s causing it! I think there may be some confusion here as to how the taser works. It doesn\'t just cause pain, it interupts the nervous system, and makes it such that you CAN\'T move, even if you wanted to. Go watch some videos on youtube of people getting tasered. They don\'t drop like a sack of potatoes just because it hurts. its because they are paralyzed!
Muraculous
With animals there may be some public outcry but at least there won\'t be any lawsuits like when four cops wrestle some poor Polish guy to the ground taser him 3 or 4 times and kill him in he process...I\'m sure he would rather have been threatened with a gun or even winged by a bullet than killed by a \"safe\" taser.
Charles Bosse
I don\'t know if this will be good for bear, but it would be nice to have something to reduce bison goreing without killing the animal. Bear are smart and stubborn, and may not be discouraged by this, but a bison will probably move on after getting hit with one of these.
Will, the tink
I\'m shocked, just shocked!
Chris Hearting
I\'m currently trying to teach my three-year-old to hunt but he is having major problems with the recoil of the shotgun (he\'s a terrible shot). Do you think this Taser would work well for me to disable the animal first and then my son can walk over with a shotgun and shoot him in the head?
Thanks