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Tech

This Warthog Is a Robot in Disguise

Like 'Westworld', but with animals and way less bloodshed.

Imagine if Westworld took place in the animal kingdom instead of a faux wild wild west. That's basically what happens in this new clip from Nature on PBS: a robotic spy warthog goes  undercover to fool other warthogs and a nearby herd of banded mongooses.

Thankfully in this case, it's not as scary or as violent as something from HBO, and actually turns out to be kinda cute. Once the spy is accepted among the other warthogs, a crew of banded mongoose appear, ready to give the warthogs a symbiotic cleaning. The mongooses, initially curious about the robot, eventually warm up to it and give it a cleaning, as well.

The idea was to see if the robot could fit in, and learn about the two species' relationship to each other. Mission accomplished! See, not all robot imitation has to end in bloodshed.

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