Mysterious black boxes under benches at Botanic Gardens spark theories
Aussies from all over shared what purpose they thought the little boxes were for. Now the truth has been revealed.
After Aussies shared their theories over why little black boxes had appeared beneath benches in one city's botanic gardens, with people hypothesising that the "tracking devices" were used to monitor people, a government official has formally set the record straight.
One confused Melburnian took to social media on Monday to upload photos of the boxes beneath a bench in the city's Royal Botanic Gardens. "Good paranoia — why is there trackers on the park benches in the Botanical Gardens?" the person asked.
Pictures show the little device, no bigger than a deck of cards, nestled beneath the chair, perfectly visible to all who sit on it. People in the comments responded with their varying theories. "Censors to gather data on the number of butts using the bench maybe," a person questioned.
After Aussies speculate, record set straight by official
"A random black box doesn't necessarily equate to a 'tracker'," another suggested.
"Knowing how cruel councils like to be to the homeless it's probably something that emits annoying noises at night to stop rough sleeping," a third wrote. "If it is a tracker then it's because gronks steal benches for lawn furniture," they continued.
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And as it turns out, on the latter point the commenter was absolutely correct.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria revealed that in fact the devices were installed after a number of the park's benches were reported stolen.
"Although very heavy, our seats go walkabout a lot, which can be an issue when people who have dedicated seats can’t find them when they visit," the spokesperson told Yahoo. "We are able to locate where these seats are in the gardens this way through a digital platform."
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