By Tim Binnall
As is tradition in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, various creatures from across the animal kingdom have been enlisted to offer their predictions on who will win the big game, and, this year, there seems to be an overwhelming favorite. If the various 'fortune-telling' denizens of zoos, wildlife parks, and aquariums throughout America are to be believed, the Philadelphia Eagles have a decisive edge over the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's showdown between the NFL's two top teams.
Backing Philadelphia so far are Vulcan the lion from Utah's Hogle Zoo, Strawberry the camel from New Jersey's Popcorn Park Zoo and Animal Refuge, Fiona the hippo from the Cincinnati Zoo, and Vaigai the elephant from the Honolulu Zoo. Addition support for the Eagles came from Sidney the Asian small-claw otter at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California, grizzly bear cubs George and Willie at ZooMontana, Nicholas the dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, San Diego's Birch Aquarium penguins, and Rascal the harbor seal from the Maritime Aquarium in Connecticut. Rounding out the pro-Philadelphia picks were the St. Louis Aquarium's piranhas.
In comparison, only a handful of animals have predicted victory for Kansas City. Among them were Misha the tiger from Iowa's Blank Park Zoo, Bubbles the hippo from the Fort Worth Zoo, and Thelma the river turtle from the Sea Life Aquarium in New Jersey. Reminiscent of the conspiracy theory that the NFL secretly tips the proverbial scales towards the Chiefs during the playoffs, one cannot help but wonder if the lopsided prediction tally is due to some bias on the part of the animal kingdom in favor of one of their own in the Eagles. Regardless, Kansas City fans should not despair as there is still time for the team to make up ground in the creature prognostication count by way of additional events scheduled at zoos and aquariums over the weekend.