newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MARGARET MORGAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Nelly, the 18-month-old elephant may have been a psychic pachyderm in picking Japan to win over Germany in the Women’s World Cup. But it’s not a crystal ball she’s kicking – or rather trunking – around; it’s only a soccer ball. To her it’s a game, so how does she make her predictions?

She faces off at two nets, each marked with the country’s national flags of the upcoming contenders. The team whose goal she scores on is the team that will be defeated on game day. Her predictions for Japan against Germany were accurate, much to the Germans’ dismay, as she headed (with trunk) the ball into Germany’s net predicting its loss.

According to Der Spiegel, Germany’s top news website, the elephant's powers of prediction were discovered by chance. Two workers at Germany's Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen were kicking a soccer ball during their lunch break and accidentally sent it flying into Nelly's enclosure. The playful young elephant immediately sent it soaring into the air, so the zookeepers decided to test out her choices with soccer nets. Nelly has correctly predicted the winner of every German match in the ongoing Women's World Cup, including the host country's stunning loss to Japan. The day before the game, Nelly heaved the ball into the German net, much to the dismay of her German keepers. And her keepers began to wonder if she would be the country’s new soccer oracle, now that Paul the Octopus had passed on?

However, she is not always accurate in her predictions. Last Tuesday, Nelly made forecasts for Wednesday's semifinals, predicting that Sweden and France would win their respective matches against Japan and the U.S. to face off in Sunday's final. Well, some days she isn’t in the mood for football according to zoo spokeswoman, Juliane Gunkel.

Gunkel did tell Der Spiegel that Nelly, weighing in at 1,058 pounds, is a force to be reckoned with given her youth and the fact that she is an African elephant. According to Gunkel, her species is typically more difficult to manage than Indian elephants and that Nelly’s trainer is surprised that she has learned so quickly at such a young age. Will Nelly’s football forecasting be in her future? Only if she continues to have fun with it says Gunkel.

And what about the outcome of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday between the U.S. and Japan? For the finals, word has it that Nelly has picked Japan to win. Will she triumph and will Americans be shedding elephant tears?