The mascot for Brazil 2014 – In 2012, Fifa unveiled its mascot for Brazil 2014, a colourful armadillo called Fuleco. Its real-world inspiration is the Brazilian three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes tricinctus, a species that has evolved the defensive trick of rolling up into a near-perfect, football-like sphere.
Ironically, the same property that makes it so suitable as the figurehead for the World Cup also makes it easy to bag up and barbeque. The combined forces of illegal subsistence hunting and habitat destruction have rendered this remarkable species vulnerable to extinction, according to the IUCN.
Animal Magic, Henry Nicholls
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