A vending-machine like installation that simulates the wildlife purchasing process in order to raise the awareness of animal protection. We designed a vending machine and let our users pick up any animal and eventually, there would be a corresponding animal product coming out from the machine. Also, we would print a 'receipt' for users where users could learn more about the chosen animal current situation.

Background Story

Wildlife now is in an increasingly worse situation. Poachers keep targeting rare creatures, like pangolins. Last year, we lost the last male northern white rhino in the world. There remain so many sad stories of extinct species. What’s worse, on Aug, 12th, 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would change how the Endangered Species Act is applied—the government will now consider economic factors before categorizing a species as endangered or threatened. ‍ Under new rules, it will be much harder to protect wildlife from the multiple threats posed by climate change. Undoubtedly, climate change will lead to the loss of wetlands, sea-level rise, invasive species, and disease, where wildlife will lose their habitat and be forced to move or die. It’s inevitable that human is responsible for climate change while humans might be indirect causes in this case. But human could also be direct causes in terms of countless poaching and turn wildlife habitat into farmland. Luckily, some organizations and individuals have already started to care about climate change and species distinction. However, it’s often hard to get funding and other support for these growing problems. The public and media tend to focus on current emergencies rather than long-term issues. If we were not about to take action immediately to protect our habitat, the human might also be in extinction one day. Therefore, we would love to dive into the topic of endangered wildlife and design a system engaging multiple sectors to get public eyes in focus on this issue.