12.13.2007 - 07:30am ET

Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki

(CSRwire) OAKLAND, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/13/07 -- The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) has signed on as the first official corporate sponsor of Amphibian Ark's "2008 Year of the Frog," a campaign to raise public awareness and funds to help avert the pending amphibian extinction crisis. "2008 Year of the Frog" is a globally coordinated campaign -- led by the non-profit coalition Amphibian Ark -- to engage zoos, aquariums, corporate partners, governments, and the public in an effort to rescue endangered amphibian species that cannot be saved in the wild.

As many as 165 amphibian species may be extinct, with an additional one-third to one-half of the world's 6,000 amphibian species in danger of becoming extinct in our lifetime. While habitat destruction is a serious threat, the most immediate cause of amphibian decline is a parasitic fungus called amphibian chytrid, a disease that is deadly to hundreds of species and has quickly spread from Africa across the rest of the planet. Chytrid fungus is currently unstoppable and untreatable in the wild, where it can kill 80 percent of native amphibians within months.

As part of its sponsorship, The Clorox Company will donate Clorox(R) Regular-Bleach to aid in the halt of the spread of chytrid fungus. Clorox(R) Regular-Bleach, an EPA-registered fungicide, is one of the most important tools in Amphibian Ark's fight to save the frogs.* Frogs are treated with anti-fungal medicine and anything else that has contact with water during amphibian rescue is treated with a bleach solution, from boots and clothing to instruments and transport containers, to be sure researchers are not spreading fungus to new, uncontaminated areas. When zoos and aquariums bring frogs that cannot be saved in the wild into protective custody, their enclosures are treated with a bleach solution daily for the first weeks to be sure they remain fungus-free.

"We are grateful to Clorox for signing on as the first official sponsor of '2008 Year of the Frog and hope their commitment will encourage others to join this important global conservation mission,'" said Amphibian Ark Program Officer, Kevin Zippel. "Clorox's support, along with the donation of bleach for use in our efforts, will make a real impact for the cause."

Since it was introduced in 1913, Clorox(R) Regular-Bleach has a long history of use in places where killing pathogens is critical -- in hospitals, nursing homes, child-care centers and schools.

"When we heard about Amphibian Ark's campaign and learned that bleach played a critical role in its efforts, we wanted to help," stated Mary O'Connell, public relations director at The Clorox Company. "Amphibian Ark really is creating an ark in what's become a race to save frogs and other amphibians not from decline -- but from extinction. How could we not help?"

Conservation biologists refer to amphibians as "the canaries in the coal mine" -- they are among the first species to be affected by environmental stressors, so when they show declines in the wild, it serves as a warning to other species, including humans. Amphibians -- frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians -- are vital members of a delicate ecosystem as well as important environmental indicators and contributors to human health and wellness.

"

For more information please contact: