Fifa and Brazil are failing threatened armadillo, say conservationists

The mascot for Brazil 2014 – the animated armadillo Fuleco – is set to make Fifa millions. But the real animal – the Brazilian three-banded armadillo – is perilously close to extinction

Fuleco, the mascot of the 2014 World Cup, is not doing enough for conservation. Photograph: AP/Fifa

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.

A three-band armadillo comes out of its football-like defensive position at the zoo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photograph: Marcelo Sayao/EPA

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.

Initially, conservationists were upbeat about the choice of species as mascot, hopeful that the sight of Fuleco bouncing across the World Cup stage would raise awareness of the plight of the three-banded armadillo (or “tatu-bola” as it’s known locally) and the Caatinga, a dry forest region in the northeast of Brazil and the main stronghold of this enigmatic mammal. But there is increasing concern that Fuleco isn’t working hard enough to benefit the tatu-bola or its habitat.

The World Cup will profit hugely from the image of Fuleco, says Rodrigo Castro, executive secretary of the Caatinga Association, an NGO that champions the conservation of the tatu-bola and the Caatinga (which occupies over 800,000 km2 or around 10% of the country). In 2013, one of the World Cup’s official sponsors Continental Tyres did make a one-off donation of 100,000 Reais to the Caatinga Association. But this is only around $45,000 (or £27,000) and was only enough to get Project Tatu-bola rolling, says Castro, a campaign with the aim of preventing the extinction of the threatened armadillo in the coming decade. As things stand, Fifa itself has made no direct contribution to the Caatinga Association or the conservation of the tatu-bola, he says.

The creation of Fuleco

From where I’m sitting, this does not look good. In the 2012 press release that introduced Fuleco to the world, Fifa's secretary general Jérôme Valcke described the choice of the three-banded armadillo as “very fitting”. “One of the key objectives through the 2014 Fifa World Cup is to use the event as a platform to communicate the importance of the environment and ecology,” he said. “We are glad to be able to do so with the help of a mascot who I’m sure will be much-loved, not only in Brazil, but all over the world.” After a public vote on names, Fuleco won through, a fusion of the words “Futbol” and “Ecologia”.

But wouldn’t Fifa’s commitment to the environment and ecology be so much more credible if it channeled some of its Fuleco-related revenue into the conservation of the Caatinga? Castro agrees and has made several concrete proposals to Fifa. For instance, a small percentage of Fuleco soft toy sales (one incarnation retails at $14.99) could be directed towards the tatu-bola conservation project. “The 2014 World Cup could be remembered by future generations as the first event of this nature to have been crucial to save a native species of the host country from extinction,” he says.

The three-banded armadillo faces extinction, largely because of illegal hunting and deforestation of its dry forest habitat in northeast Brazil. Photograph: Silvia Izquierdo/AP

In April, several senior Brazilian scientists made another innovative proposal in the journal Biotropica (full article here). They called on Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to protect 10 km2 of Caatinga forest for every goal scored during the tournament. The South Africa 2010 World Cup saw 145 balls in nets, which would translate to 1450 km2 or around 0.2% of the region (corrected from original post, in which I got my maths muddled).

This would be extremely welcome, for less than 1% of the Caatinga is currently designated as a protected area. This is surprising, given that it is home to an impressive suite of species, with more than 1,000 vascular plants, no fewer than 180 bees, 240 fish, more than 150 amphibians and reptiles, over 500 birds and around 150 mammals. In comparison to wetter habitats like the tropical forests along the Brazil’s Atlantic coast or the iconic Amazon, the Caatinga has historically received next-to-nothing.

This lack of scientific and conservation input probably explains why, just 20 years ago in 1994, the tatu-bola appeared in an appendix of “extinct or probably extinct” mammal species. With nobody out there looking, there were no reliable reports that this dinky mammal was still trotting its way through the scrub. It turns out that the armadillo still survives but without proper funding, its future is bleak. “The World Cup and FIFA itself could play a major role in saving the species from extinction,” says Castro. “Unfortunately we got no reply from FIFA on our propositions,” he says.

I telephoned Fifa this morning at their headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland and got a recorded message. “Our offices remain closed on Monday 9 June due to a local holiday.” When they are back at work, they will be busy with the tournament itself. But I don’t think it is too late for Fifa and Brazil to seize the opportunity presented by this curious armadillo. It wouldn’t cost much to support the conservation of the Caatinga (at least not in comparison with the vast wealth being generated by the event), it would look good for Fifa (which is keen to show off its support for the environment) and – who knows – it might even do some good.