Every World Cup has its own mascot and this year's tournament has "Fuleco", a Brazilian three banded armadillo. Environmentalists hope the choice will create more awareness of an endangered species that is faced with extinction.

Fuleco, the 2014 World Cup mascot, is already the face of the tournament. He is a smiley, yellow armadillo with a blue shell and tail, sporting green shorts, the colors of the Brazilian flag. Fuleco is a combination of the Portuguese words for football and ecology.

The real animal is native to Brazil and is called Tatu Bola, or armadillo ball, because it is one of the only two armadillos that can roll into a perfect ball. According to environmentalists and scientists, the species was almost unknown before the World Cup.

"To preserve a species you need to know it. So, its selection as the mascot of the World Cup made people seek information of the species and be aware of its extinction, to know that in 50 years it can be extinct." said Rodrigo de Cerqueira, Biologist.

Experts say the small armadillo, just 45 centimeters long when uncoiled, has suffered a 30 percent decline in population growth in the last ten years. The only specimen living in captivity can be seen at the Rio de Janeiro Zoo.

Everybody calls this armadillo Fuleco, since it was chosen to be the World Cup's mascot, but this one is a she and has become a star in the zoo. She has also turned into an environmental symbol of animal extinction in Brazil.

Brazil's Environmental Ministry has just launched a five-year action plan for the conservation of the Tatu Bola, that includes plans to reduce deforestation to stop the shrinking of its habitat as well as hunting it, a popular practice in rural communities.

"He was lucky to be the mascot because it resembles a football. If he hadn't that appearance it could have been forgotten as many others that are important for our ecosystem." said Rodrigo de Cerqueira, Biologist.

A real goal for Brazil would be to have as many actual living armadillos as the millions of toy mascots that are being waved around by football fans in this year's World Cup.