PETA’s latest target? Super Mario and his racoon suit

PETA have decided to get back to what they do best - attention-seeking, high-profile moaning. This time, however, the focus of their ire is a certain mustachioed plumber.

Yes, believe it or not, the animal rights organisation have chosen to target Nintendo's iconic Super Mario character for a power-up suit that he wears in the Nintendo 3DS release, Super Mario 3D Land, coming this Friday.

For many gamers, one of the biggest attractions of the game is that Mario will wear his Tanooki suit (based on the Japanese term for racoon, 'tanuki') for the first time since Super Mario Bros 3. The suit in question allows to spin at enemies with his newfound tail and temporarily fly. All sounds fairly innocent, right?

Not to PETA, who have launched a campaign entitled 'Mario Kills Tanooki', claiming: "When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy - even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers."

"Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur."

Does PETA actually think that Mario's young fanbase are going to pester their parents for fur coats this Christmas? Evidently, they do, as they've also created a 2D flash game, Super Tanooki Skin 2D, where players star as a flayed Tanooki that has to chase Mario down to retreive its fur.

Nintendo have since defended themselves by telling gaming site Eurogamer that "Mario often takes the appearance of certain animals and objects in his games."

"These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play."

"The different forms that Mario takes make no statement beyond the games themselves."