9th December, London - Do you know how a baby crocodile squeaks? Do you realize what difficulties a baby gorilla faces as it grows up in the forests of Central Africa? Or how about receiving a diary from a tiger researcher in Indonesia?
An exciting, innovative service will become available on December 11th 2003. wildlive! (http://www.wildlive.org/) is an entirely new way of promoting conservation interest among a new generation of mobile phone and internet users with a combined web/WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) approach.
Vodafone live! customers will be able to download high-quality wildlife and landscape images, ring-tones of the calls of endangered and protected species as well as entering competitions and quizzes, receiving news alerts, and getting in touch with others who share their interest.
The 'Silverback' game, created by UK games developer Masabi, integrates fun and educational aspects to teach players about the plight of the mountain gorillas of Central Africa. In the game, players must help a gorilla negotiate the forest life, avoiding poachers and natural dangers, and finding enough food to survive. As the game progresses, across eight increasingly challenging levels, the player's gorilla matures and starts a family, who must be protected as they go about their daily lives. While essentially a fun game, it also contains detailed information on a gorilla's diet, social behaviour and habitat.
Internet users will also be able to access a wide array of services through wildlive! on the internet. People can personally experience the trials and excitements of working with endangered species by receiving real field diaries and pictures from conservation teams around the world as well as entering into discussion forums and accessing photo galleries, among other things.
wildlive! has been created in partnership between the world's largest mobile telecommunications company, Vodafone, and the worlds longest established international conservation body, Fauna & Flora International (FFI). The project was funded by the Vodafone Group Foundation, developed by FFI and put into operation by Vodafone UK.
The cost of downloads for wallpapers, games, pictures and sounds (£2.50) is charged directly to each subscriber's Vodafone bills or debited from their pay as you talk accounts. Vodafone is donating 100% of the income generated from the sale of downloadable material to support FFI's conservation efforts.
"Using Vodafone live! to educate people further on the activities of FFI is an excellent initiative," commented Gavin Darby, CEO, Vodafone UK. "By donating all proceeds from use of the wildlive! service, Vodafone UK hopes to be able to help ensure the good work of FFI continues long into the future."
About Masabi
Masabi develops games and entertainment applications for use on the next generation of mobile phones. The company is currently working on Mobile Repton, an enhanced version of Repton 3 that will allow users to pay to download additional levels and skins. In addition to developing the game, Masabi is also working on web-based level and sprite designers enabling gamers to design and upload their own levels and game skins, providing unlimited gameplay.
The company was founded in late 2001 and is based in London.
About Fauna & Flora International
Fauna & Flora International (FFI) celebrates its centenary on Dec. 11th.
Founded in 1903, FFI is the longest established international conservation group, and is currently supporting conservation through 300 partners in more than 60 countries world-wide.
FFI acts to conserve threatened species and ecosystems world-wide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science, and taking into account human needs.
Fauna & Flora International web site
About Vodafone UK
Vodafone UK has 13.48 million customers, the largest share of the corporate mobile communications market and is part of the world's largest mobile community. The Newbury-based company offers a wide range of mobile voice and data communications. The Vodafone UK network covers 99% of the population and transmits over 12 million text messages every day. Vodafone UK was the world’s first mobile operator to introduce international roaming, and currently offers its customers roaming on 355 networks in 150 countries.
In May 2003, Vodafone UK was ranked top for customer satisfaction for the second time in the UK's pre-pay mobile phone sector in a survey by JD Power and Associates.