Youwild.Org Helps You Become One with Your Favorite Animal

New website morphs, entertains, and educates

(03/27/2007) - Washington, D.C. -- Defenders of Wildlife today launched YouWild.org, a new website that allows users to "morph" a personal photo into a picture of an animal of their choice.

"YouWild.org is a fun and innovative way to raise awareness about threats to imperiled wildlife," said Jeff Regen with Defenders of Wildlife. "There is nowhere else on the web where people can watch themselves -- or a friend, family member or pet -- morph into an animal, and then take action to help save that animal! You can even submit your morph into our Hall of Fame and win a prize!"

YouWild.org is a project of Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting native wildlife and the habitat it needs to survive. The goal of YouWild.org is to engage and educate people about the continuing threat to wolves, tigers and other imperiled wildlife. By offering an entertaining way to learn about imperiled wildlife, Defenders hopes to encourage website visitors to help save these beloved animals and protect vanishing habitat.

YouWild.org allows the site's visitors to morph their photos into wolves, jaguars, sharks, polar bears, chimpanzees and more. Visitors can upload a photo of your own — or choose a sample photo from our gallery of people and animals, and watch as the face you chose gradually transforms into an imperiled species.

The site also allows people to save their morph, send it to friends or post a link to their morph on their personal webpage, blog or MySpace page.

"This is a fun website and we’re looking forward to seeing the great entries for the Hall of Fame," continued Regen. "But we hope that YouWild.org will also educate and engage folks in the important work of protecting endangered wildlife."

Any website visitor can use YouWild.org, no registration required. For more information, visit www.YouWild.org or www.defenders.org

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Defenders of Wildlife is recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 500,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues. For more information, visit www.defenders.org.

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Contact(s):

Rebecca Greenberg, (202) 772-3217