Will you put your money where the claws are?
Puka, a kea at Wellington Zoo, has joined the lengthening list of animals being deployed to predict the results of major sports tournaments.
The trend started with Paul the octopus, who correctly picked 12 of 14 matches in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
But instead of picking winners, Puka has so far picked the losing team – with a 100% success rate.
So far, that’s seen Puka pick six losing teams from six matches.
1News watched as Puka repeatedly picked a Swiss loss ahead of their match against the Football Ferns in Dunedin on Sunday night.
It took Puka only a few twitches of the head and a couple of squawks before the deliberation was over - she took off and confidently landed on a stick marked with Switzerland’s flag not once but four times in a row.
Mathew Forbes, a bird and ectotherm keeper at Wellington Zoo, says he isn’t surprised by Puka’s achievements - as keas are among the most intelligent birds in the world.
“They have the problem-solving abilities of about a four-year-old and working with them day to day they are very intelligent.”
Forbes is a football fan and watched Paul the octopus with great interest.
“This year I thought why not it might be a bit of fun for us keepers and fun for the kea so might as well.”
He hopes this project will draw attention to kea conservation and assures Puka won’t meet the same fate as Paul, who was reportedly turned into calamari.
“We need to conserve them [kea] they’re not doing so well so we need to put as much resources into protecting these beautiful Taonga as possible.”
Football Ferns fans will be hoping that Puka’s run continues, as she tracks to outshine Paul and perhaps become the most worlds most successful oracle.
By Caitlin Clarke and Abbey Wakefield
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