Every open source project needs a mascot. FLECS too. That’s why we thought about what suits us best. This is not so easy. After all, we have to like it in 20-30 years.
We then discussed what is important to us founders. That’s how we finally came up with the idea of sending a message about environment and sustainability. Both of these topics are also very important to us as founders and we stand up for them.
Every year, the German Wildlife Foundation selects the animal of the year. Criteria for the election are, among others, endangerment, threat to the habitat or because it causes a human-wildlife conflict. The goal is to make the public aware of this animal. We at FLECS feel this goal is right and important. That is why we decided that our mascot should be the animal of the year. Since we also publish a new main version every year, the mascot therefore always accompanies it for exactly one year before it is replaced by the next animal of the year. This way we make a small contribution to give these animals another public stage.
This year, the common porpoise has been chosen as animal of the year. This cute animal is native to all the world’s oceans, including the North and Baltic Seas. It is classified as critically endangered on Germany’s national Red List (threat level 3 of 4), with the greatest threat coming from us humans:
- Suffocation in set nets (bycatch).
- Underwater noise
- Creeping poisoning by heavy metals or pesticides
If you want to learn more about the porpoise, read the profile of the German Wildlife Foundation. And if you feel the need to do something good for this animal, donate a few Euros.
You like our porpoise and you also need a mascot? Then just contact our designer Dominik Ultes (DomDozy(at)gmx.de)!
