Elephant, Psychic Pig to predict Euro 2012 games

What’s better than a fortune-telling elephant? A beer-swilling Psychic Pig, of course.

Poland and Ukraine revealed the animals they will use to predict matches at next month’s Euro 2012 soccer championship, The Associated Press reported.

Zookeepers in Krakow chose Citta, a 33-year-old Indian elephant, ahead of another elephant, a parrot and a donkey.

Citta correctly predicted Chelsea would defeat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League soccer final on the weekend. She selected an apple next to a blue-and-white Chelsea logo over the red-and-blue logo of Bayern.

Psychic Pig, 2, likely saved itself from a grim fate by grunting loudly as it enjoyed beer and French fries and watched soccer with the farmer who owns it in Ukraine.

The reportedly extrasensory pig already has a publicist training it for the media attention, and will likely set up shop in the city of Kiev.

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“We want to make sure he is calm — we don’t want him to get scared,” city spokesman Svitlana Bovkun said, according to the AP.

Handlers will give the pig plates of food near flags of competing nations to make its predictions.

It also goes by the name “Soothsayer Hog,” The Mirror reported, and will make predictions daily at 4 p.m.

Using animals to predict sporting events over professional prognosticators has gained increasing attention around the world.

The Sports Network in Canada asked Maggie the Monkey to spin a wheel with hockey team logos, while Paul the Octopus enjoyed an uncanny run of luck choosing 2006 World Cup winners in Germany.

Paul predicted eight winners, including Spain’s ultimate victory in the final; he died at a Germany aquarium shortly after the World Cup ended.

His fame spawned toys and a documentary.

“Paul was rather special, but we managed to film Paul before he left this mortal earth,” his agent, Chris Davies, told BBC in 2010.

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