Naga Pranav Patcha may seem like an average 15-year-old, but the teenager’s passion for the Malayan Tapir has fuelled him to create a website and an online game to champion ways to protect the endangered species.
Pranav, who studies at an international school, was inspired to create the game SavTap as he felt it was an efficient way to connect with a wider audience, effectively raising awareness about the species.
“I decided to highlight the Malayan Tapir’s biggest threats, such as roadkill, deforestation, habitat loss, flooding, and snares, in a visual, and impactful way. To further enhance SavTap – which is short for Save Tapirs – and to make it user-friendly, I included three accessibility features – making it bilingual (in Bahasa Melayu and English), mobile-accessible, and colour-blind friendly,” said Pranav, who regularly contributes to Twentytwo13’s Young Voices.
Pranav spent between an hour and two daily to plan, design, and enhance the game using the programming tool, Scratch. He completed the online game in about four months.
“I learnt how to use Scratch through various YouTube videos, along with my parents’ support. During my participation in Coolest Projects Malaysia, a nationwide technology competition, a mentor guided me through various enhancements to further improve my work.”
Pranav admitted that creating games required a lot of dedication and hard work.
“It requires coding animated characters. Making the game realistic, educational, and accessible involves a lot of thought process and planning.
“Moreover, it is essential to have a connective storyline and an underlying message that can be conveyed to the gamers. Sometimes, it takes a few hours, to days, to fix a bug.”
He made sure he finished his homework before working on the game.
“It was taxing initially, but it was possible with my dedication and passion to create the game.”
Why fight for the Malayan Tapir?
“After reading an article about how Malayan Tapirs were being killed on Malaysian roads, I was deeply moved. I wanted to be their voice and raise awareness, especially among the younger generation of Malaysians who are our future, about the various threats tapirs faced,” he said.
“The objective of SavTap is to raise global awareness of the plight of Malayan Tapirs, and inspire the younger audience to be more proactive in wildlife conservation.
“I am planning to develop a prototype for my innovative solution to roadkill … a Smart Tapir crossing sign using the Raspberry Pi and Teachable Machine that can warn drivers of oncoming tapirs.”
Pranav also plans to work on more socially-relevant games in the future, based on other pressing issues, such as food waste.
“I hope my efforts will motivate young change-makers to tackle other global and community issues.
“If you want to create awareness about endangered wildlife, start with something you’re passionate about. Devise user-friendly and inspiring projects such as games, videos, animations, or websites, collaborate with like-minded individuals, and participate in talks and workshops on tapir conservation.
“Let us unite to bring the Malayan Tapir’s International Union for Conservation of Nature status from ‘endangered’ to ‘least concerned’. It’s about taking small steps that can make a big difference,” he added.
