Америка құрлығында қолданылған салмақты лақтыру қаруы

Type of weighted throwing weapon used in The Americas

Bolas or bolases (: bola; from Spanish and Portuguese bola, "ball", also known as a boleadora or boleadeira) is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Bolas were most famously used by the gauchos, but have been found in excavations of Pre Columbian settlements, especially in Patagonia, where indigenous peoples (particularly the Tehuelche) used them to catch 200 pound guanacos and rheas. The Mapuche and the Inca army used them in battle. Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean Army during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883).

Gauchos used boleadoras to capture running cattle or game. Depending on the exact design, the thrower grasps the boleadora by one of the weights or by the nexus of the cords. The thrower gives the balls momentum by swinging them and then releases the boleadora. The weapon is usually used to entangle the animal's legs, but when thrown with enough force might even inflict damage (e. g. breaking a bone). Traditionally, Inuit have used bolas to hunt birds, fouling the birds in air with the lines of the bola. People of a Feather showed Belcher Island Inuit using bolas to hunt eider ducks on the wing.

At the "Anthropology Days" associated with the 1904 Summer Olympics, a "bolo throw" event was contested at Francis Olympic Field, where the top 3 finishers were all Tehuelche and the winning distance was 209 feet (64 m). In the series Zorro (1957), episode 33 of season 1: "The Deadly Bolas", features this weapon. In the anime Belle and Sébastien, episode 40: "Chained Belle" (ボーレアドーラの恐怖, Bōreadōra no kyōfu) shows an expert in the handling of bolas. The fictional comic book character "Batman", along with his allies known as the "Bat Family", are often seen using bolas to capture criminals in "Gotham City". In the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, a bolas is featured as a weapon made by the Q Branch.