Meet Emma, football's top pig psychic
The Mangalitsa, especially bred in Hungary and the Balkans, is also known as the curly-hair hog.
Stop us if you've heard this one before: A bulldog, a cow, an elephant, an octopus, an otter and a pig walk into a football bookie's office. "Which one of you has the power to predict the outcome of Euro 2012 and other football matches?" asked the bookie. "I do," said the pig, and the rest is sport history.
German news portal Spiegel Online reports that Emma, a Hungarian Mangalica pig, has beaten the likes of Yvonne the cow and Maya the otter to take the place of Paul the octopus, a creature that correctly predicted the outcome of the FIFA World Cup two years ago, before going into that great big ocean in the sky.
Emma scored a perfect 10 on all the German match forecasts at the Euro 2012 and even predicted Germany's defeat at the feet of the Italians. However, the curly-haired hog couldn't bring home the bacon because dozens of other barnyard and circus animals were hogging the limelight in the hope of becoming the world's next top football psychic.
Her closest competition was the five-year old alpaca Da Pang (or Big Fat) from Tianjin Zoo in China. Da Pang correctly picked the winning team in 10 out of 12 matches. Then there was Euro 2012 co-host nation Ukraine, which laid its hopes in Funtik the pig and on Fred the ferret. Neither could beat Emma's record.
Da Pang the alpaca packs a kicker at China's Tianjin Zoo.
Meanwhile, co-host Poland turned to Citta the elephant, but she got her trunk in a knot for all three prediction attempts. She called the first two games for her home country against Greece and Russia; both came to a draw. In her final forecast, she went with a draw against the Czech Republic; Poland lost.
Nicholas the llama didn't fare very well either, suggesting that England would be crowned Euro 2012 champions. Equally disappointing were Lin Ping the panda over at the Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand and Ya Ya the dolphin at the Nanjing Underwater World in China.
Paul the octopus was originally from England before moving to a tank at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen. He became internationally famous after getting four out of six predictions right for the Euro 2008. Let's hope Emma doesn't end up a sausage if she can't get the next one right.
Published: 4th July 2012
Links: Memorial for Octopus Paul
Paul the Octopus is not for sale
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