The Most Famous Animals That Predict Match Results

Football and cricket comes into existence in the animal kingdom. Paul, the Octopus, Petrovich the Crab, and several other highly publicized animal oracles come to mind.

There are a large number of animals and plants, in all corners of the world, ranging from barometers to indicators of temperature or forecasting storms. In the India, the famed groundhog Phil, and across the world, cats and dogs are capable of predicting earthquakes. The world of sports also embraces animals gifted in prediction. As we explore the  World Cup in Brazil, some of the most famous ones come to mind.

Street Dogs Predict Winner of MI vs RCB Clash in IPL

Insidesport has turned to street dogs to predict the outcome of this high-octane match scheduled for April 11th. By placing food containers representing each team in front of the stray dogs, the team with the most companions around its container is deemed the predicted winner.

But the experiment goes beyond just predicting cricket results; Insidesport has also committed to donating to a street dog charity, making this a charitable initiative as well.

In this particular prediction, the street dogs seemed to favor Mumbai, with a narrow 5-4 lead over RCB, making for an intriguing outcome.

This light-hearted approach adds a touch of humor to the world of cricket predictions, all while bringing attention to the welfare of street dogs.

The history between these two powerhouse teams is also highlighted, with MI having won 20 out of 34 clashes against RCB. However, RCB has managed to secure victory in 14 matches against the five-time champions. MI’s dominance at the Wankhede Stadium is particularly noteworthy, having won seven out of 10 encounters against RCB.

Paul the Octopus

When Euro in Germany launched, Paul the Octopus became a worldwide sensation as a German prediction professor. The octopus was known to be the oracle who predicted the matches of Germany's national team. Before the games, the aquarium of the octopus had two transparent containers with flags of both teams. Paul crawled into the one he favored, thereby making his choice.

In his short life span (Octopus life expectancy is approximately 5 years), Paul, among 14 predicted football matches, made only two wrong predictions. Following his wrong prediction concerning the last match of Euro-2008 between Spain and Germany, Paul had no other misses and called all the World-Cup throws in the South African event correctly. The last match that Paul made a prediction for was between Spain and Netherlands, which had nothing to do with Germany.

Upon the death of Paul, October 26, the flags were ordered half-mast in Oberhausen's aquarium, and a condolence book was opened. The ashes of the famous octopus are sealed in a monument of Paul playing with a soccer ball, located in the aquarium.

Elephant Nelly

Following Paul came a new female predictor for Germany, an elephant named Nelly, who started her career as an oracle during the Women’s World Cup. There were two goals placed before Nelly, each with flags of the competing teams above them. The task was simple: score a goal! The team whose goal Nelly hit first was declared the loser.

She had rightly predicted nearly all matches of the German side. However, before the quarterfinal match, she went out on a limb and predicted that Japan would win. This prediction was rendered dramatic: Nelly had made five attempts on the Japanese goal, but on the sixth attempt, the ball landed in Germany's goal. Germany created some opportunities to score, and Japan won the match 1-0.

Nelly also accurately predicted the result of the UEFA Champions League final, where Bayern Munich was to defeat Borussia Dortmund.

Pig Funtik and Ferret Fred

During the Euro in Ukraine, two new nostradamus were introduced to the world. The first was a 400-kilogram pink pig named Funtik. His predictions were pretty simple. Two bowls with flags of the teams were placed before him, and the same amount of corn sticks were put in each bowl. The pig chose which bowl to go to with the outcome of the match determined by which one it started eating out of.

During the European Championship, Funtik guessed only half of the results including saying Russia would defeat the Czech Republic. So, the pig, however, did not qualify as a successful forecaster- he became famous for drinking beer with the fans.

Another predictor, a ferret named Fred, also predicted those outcomes by assigning food to one of the competing bowls. Suffice it to say, instead of corn sticks, beef was his fare. Similar to Funtik, Fred correctly predicted half of the results of the Euro. He was equally confident about the semifinals conducted by Portugal and Germany, although he erred at the final with his choice of Italy.

Otter Harry

An otter named Harry turned out to be the central predictor of the Sochi Olympics. Initially, his partner Ashley had a role, but soon she got bored from the constant interruption of the cameras and delegated her ceremonial duties to Harry himself.

An attendant tossed two balls with country names into the pool, and Harry would pull one of these out to predict the winning side. He was greatly successful in making predictions, with the most notable ones being Belarusian biathlete Darya Domracheva and Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu. However, he failed to guess the winner of the fateful match between the Russian hockey team and Finland.

Following that, the errors started multiplying. The staff from a zoo in Sochi, where Harry lived, later explained that he grew weary from all the forecasts. Also, Harry had become somewhat pudgy since he had been correctly making about 4-5 forecasts a day and earning his treat each time.

Crab Petrovich

Petrovich the Crab, an experienced Norwegian sailor and a Belarusian citizen by part, predicted results of the ice hockey World Championship in Minsk. In Petrovich's aquarium, there was a hockey puck marked with flags of the teams competing in the championship. With a little manipulation, Petrovich would use his claw to drop the puck, which would then sink to the bottom of the aquarium. The flag that remained on top showed the prediction of the winner.

It is worth noting that Petrovich, perhaps not to jinx it, never predicted results from matches with Belarus. His predictions were not all true, however: during the meeting between France and Canada, he gave a certain win to the Canadians instead, a prediction that turned out to be wrong. He was always right in predicting when Russia was playing.

Turtle Big Head

Big Head, a creature so huge that it has become part of the ranks of animal oracle predictions, barked out his declaration. Just the day prior to the commencement of the World Cup in India, a small pool with goals where flags of the countries that would kick off the tournament-the Brazilian and Croatian-were placed on the goal line works. Big-headed, finding himself close to the Brazilian flag, relished some delectable fish. The prediction came true.

Animal predictions are only going to get better and better, considering the fact that these wonderful creatures make an exciting pastime!

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