5 possible psychic successors to "Paul the Octopus", the World Cup predictor

It has become a custom these days that every tournament will have some psychic animal oracle to predict the result of matches. Zookeepers from around the world are ready to take the football world by storm with their predictors this time.After the death of Germany based Paul, the Octopus, the prime predictor of the 2010 edition, there are five successors lined up to continue its legacy in the upcoming edition in Brazil.Meetthe 5 successors and their modus operandi of picking the winners inthe 2014 World Cup.

#1 Big head, the Turtle

This creature is the official predictor of the host nation Brazil.

The Brazilian loggerhead has already started its predictions by hinting that Brazil will win the tournament opener against Croatia.

Three fishes were hung from a thread so as to leave the option to the turtle to choose among a draw or a Brazilian victory or a Croatia victory.

The turtle almost went for a draw before picking the fish from a Brazilian flag.

As a result, this 25-year-old is already quite the favourite among the football lovers in the host nation.

#2 Nelly, the Elephant

Nelly is the German successor of the Octopus Paul. Based out of Hannover’s Serengeti Park in Germany, it has accurately predicted the results of Euro 2012 and the Champions League final of 2013.

Nelly picks the winner by kicking a soccer ball into one of two goal posts marked with the name of the competing teams/ countries.

However, Germans will not be pleased with the results predicted by Nelly as it says that Germany would lose to the USA in the group-stage.

#3 Roo, the British bull dog

She is England’s answer to the German Octopus Paul.

The psychic bull dog has been launched by a pet store company called ‘Pets at home’ to predict the World Cup results.

Roo makes her prediction by choosing one of the three bowls of biscuits marked with the flags of two competing nations and one marked with a board ‘draw.’

She has already kicked off her business by predicting that England will win their opening encounter against Italy.

#4 Baby Pandas

Pandas will mark the entry of Chinese predictors in the arena. Based out of the Sichuan Province, these pandas will predict the results of all the group stage and knock-out round matches.

For predicting group matches, the Pandas will be allowed to choose between three bamboo baskets containing food to predict a country’s win, loss or a draw.

For the knock-out rounds, the pandas will be let free to climb either of the two trees marked with the flags of competing countries.

#5 Funtik, the psychic pig

Funtik, the hog, is from Ukraine’s capital city Kiev. It has predicted the results of various matches in Euro 2012 and is said to possess a 67% accuracy rate.

Funtik predicts the results by choosing a bowl of food placed beside the flag of the competing countries.

This time, Kiev’s city government has said that the pig will predict the winners at 4:00 pm every day.

#6 A tribute to the late octopus, Paul

As you wind back your memories to the 2010 edition, you will definitely be reminded of the Octopus that predicted the results of World Cup matches.

Living in a tank in a Sea Life Centre in Germany, Paul was presented with two boxes containing food, each marked with the flag of a national team competing in a match. He was then allowed to choose the box which would be the team that would win.

After a successfull predicting career with an accuracy rate of 85%, Paul died in October 2010.