The focus of our project is raising awareness surrounding the pangolin and its status as an endangered species. We chose this animal because so few people know about this creature compared to other endangered species, such as elephants or rhinoceroses. We feel that while the pangolin may not be large or majestic, it still has inherent value as a curious and unique creature that should be protected from human harm.

Part 1: Pre-production

Our method of getting people to become familiar with this situation is by making a comparison between the pangolin and the Sandshrew pokemon. Both have a similar appearance, and we can use the popularity of the pokemon franchise to draw attention to the plight of the pangolin. The plan is as follows: print out fliers with the sandshrew on it and an attention-grabbing title, and have a QR code that will direct people to our website that will have information regarding the pangolin crisis and links to organizations to donate to.

Part 2: Post-production

Our group successfully put together a social media campaign on Snapchat, distributed flyers around Sanfilippo residence hall, and put together a cool website for people to visit and learn about our movement. We did receive a lot of positive feedback from our Snapchat story; one user replied with a Snap saying “I’m down with the movement” and another drew an image of a Sandshrew, saying “Save the Pangolins!” I also had a conversation with a friend regarding the flyers we placed around the dorm; he was confused as to why they were all over the place, and I explained to him our campaign and directed him to our website.

Reflection on the experience:

I had a really great time with this part of the project. Doing the research and writing for the paper may have had its own value, but actually getting involved was pretty fun. I feel that our idea of cutting out Pokemon flyers was ingenius; it was smart, cool, and actually intrigued people. It was sort of like that popular mobile video game, Pokemon Go: where you can go around and find different Pokemon for your collection; except in this version, people had to find the Sandshrews to help “save” them from the evil poachers. Additionally, we have a pretty cool website that has a lot of educational value; Shreya put together some really informative infographics that could get people interested in the cause. While our effort may have been small, we did our best with the community we had and made a noticeable impact. If our method was applied worldwide, the Pangolin would surely be saved.