BANGKOK — A giant inflatable manta hovered over attendants at an event on the sidelines of a major international convention on wildlife trade in Bangkok last week. Bobbing slightly amid the bustle, it made for a startling change from the polar bears and pandas that have come to epitomize the plight of endangered wildlife in the public eye.

While most attention tends to focus on animals like rhinos and elephants where endangered species are concerned, scientists and conservationists warn that, out of the public eye, many other plant and animal species are being severely depleted, in some cases to the point of near-extinction.

Mantas are a prime example of the rapid shifts taking place in the global demand for wildlife, say scientists who have been calling for them to be added to a list of species whose international trade is regulated or banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, whose adherents are meeting in Bangkok this month.

Never particularly in demand for their meat, mantas have come under pressure in recent years because of a newfound demand for their gill rakers — filaments that filter their food from the water.