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The Centre for Biological Diversity started offering free wildlife ringtones for cellphones a year ago to educate people about the plight of the animals, and the campaign enjoyed such success that the environmental group has collected more ringtones and revamped its website for this year.

The group plans to release an assortment of new ringtones each month, including the sounds of the African elephant and the Emperor Penguin of the Antarctic, said Peter Galvin, the group's conservation director.

"We've hit the 100 000th download in over 150 countries," Galvin said on Wednesday in a telephone interview. "It's pretty interesting. We didn't realise how much of an international hit it would become."

The response, he said, reinforces the worldwide movement to save endangered and rare species.

"The extinction crisis is a global crisis," he said.

Available ringtones include the howl of an endangered Mexican grey wolf, the bellows of an Arctic beluga whale and the calls of dozens of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Website visitors also can get cellphone wallpaper and facts for each of the species.