Euro 2012 Animal Oracles Doing Shockingly Well

Can any of them replace Paul the octopus?
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 20, 2012 2:50 PM CDT
Euro 2012 Animal Oracles Doing Shockingly Well
Paul the Octopus makes one of his winning picks back in 2010.   (AP Photo/dapd/Mark Keppler)

Paul the octopus stunned the world with his eight-out-of-eight correct predictions during the 2010 World Cup—but sadly, he died shortly thereafter. Der Spiegel looks at a menagerie of his would-be successors, and finds that the latest animal oracles are doing surprisingly well at predicting the outcome of the European Football Championship: Four, including a pig, an elephant, and two otters, have correctly predicted all three German matches.

A bulldog has managed the same feat, but Der Spiegel discounts his record since his trainers tend to help him out with his predictions. Of the remaining animals, four (an alpaca, two ferrets, and a goat) have gotten two of the three predictions correct, while another three (two tortoises and a cow) are zero-for-three. (More Euro 2012 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X