Introduction:

Every day, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) answers dozens of urgent calls to rescue injured or distressed wildlife across Singapore. Yet behind every successful rescue lies a story of overwhelming call volumes, limited manpower, and logistical challenges that strain the organisation’s mission to protect and rehabilitate animals.

ARCES+ seeks to strengthen ACRES’ operational efficiency by reimagining its rescue communication system. Through an AI-assisted chatbot and automated case-logging platform, we aim to streamline call management, prioritise cases by risk level, and improve coordination between rescuers, the public, and partner vet clinics.

Challenges:

1. Call Management Overload
ACRES receives a high volume of distress calls daily, but with its current manual system, it struggles to log, prioritise, and track each case efficiently. This often leads to communication gaps, delayed responses, and difficulty distinguishing between high- and low-risk situations.

2. Limited Manpower and Resources
With only two staff members managing both rescue operations and hotline communications for the entirety of Singapore per shift, the team faces constant pressure. Balancing on-ground rescues whilst attending to ongoing calls creates fatigue and reduces operational effectiveness.

3. Public Coordination Difficulties
Callers sometimes fail to remain on-site or provide accurate information, complicating rescue efforts. Without a standardised data collection system, valuable time is lost verifying details and locating animals.

Proposal:

1. Intelligent Communication & Public Engagement System
Develop a chatbot platform that streamlines both rescue communication and public education. The chatbot guides users through identifying species, assessing risk levels, and providing immediate guidance on safe and humane actions while waiting for help. It also automates case logging and colour-coding based on urgency, ensuring that rescuers receive prioritised, structured information.

• Reduces hotline congestion, empowers the public with wildlife knowledge, and enhances ACRES’ ability to respond rapidly and accurately.

2. Automated Case Logging and Tracking
Implement a digital dashboard that records all case data — time, location, and species — while automatically summarising reports for rescuers.

• Improves response coordination, minimises administrative workload, and creates a comprehensive database for performance tracking.