Pauline, Mani pick Netherlands
AFP
THE HAGUE, JULY 9
Pauline, a female octopus in Dutch captivity and Mani, a Singapore parakeet on Friday have predicted victory for the Netherlands in Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain.
Pauline contradicted Paul the “psychic” German octopus after whom she was named, her aquarium.
“She chose the Netherlands,” Maaike Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Sea Life Aquarium in Scheveningen in The Hague told AFP.
This was a first attempt at divination for four-year-old Pauline, added Schroeder.
In a similar method as that famously employed for Paul, two boxes — one with the Dutch flag, the other that of Spain and each with a mussel inside, were placed in Pauline’s enclosure on Thursday.
Pauline opted for the mussel in the Dutch box for her meal.
A Singapore parakeet which correctly predicted all four winners in the World Cup quarter-finals has picked the Netherlands to trump Spain for the championship.
Mani has rapidly gained cult status among gambling-mad soccer fans who have been flocking to its owner’s shop in Singapore’s Little India district in the hope of winning big.
Media said Mani used its beak to pick a card bearing the flag of the Netherlands over one with Spain’s national colours.
Mani accurately predicted the outcome of the game in which Spain won over Germany.
