Elephant, monkey & co: Animal soccer tips for the World Cup

The pygmy marmosets at the Minis Zoo in Aue have made up their minds: In the German team's first game of the World Cup on Sunday, the team will leave the pitch victorious against Curacao. Will they be right? It's not just millions of fans who are looking forward to the game. Zoos in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia have also caught World Cup fever. They are sending their charges into the ring. These are their animal oracles:

Bull elephants give their tips in Erfurt and Magdeburg

Elephants are undoubtedly one of the zoos' crowd pullers. So it's no wonder that the zoos in Erfurt and Magdeburg are sending the cuddly pachyderms into the race as animal oracles. At the men's soccer World Cup, this task will fall to the bull elephants. In Erfurt, Kibo will be competing on June 13, while in Magdeburg Kando can make his prediction the day before.

Monkeys, parrots and a pony to predict the outcome of the game

In Aue in the Ore Mountains, the focus is on agility rather than size. The dwarf marmosets chosen as the animal oracle are not only the smallest monkey species in the world, according to the zoo. With their lightning-fast reflexes and jumping ability, they would also cut a fine figure on the soccer pitch, the zookeepers are sure. Monkeys are also calling the shots in Gera ahead of the World Cup: the zoo's golden-headed lion tamarins are taking over the job and will make a prediction before every Germany match.

Leipzig Zoo is sending a "macaw" instead of an oracle into the race, relying on the play instinct of its parrots. Chemnitz Zoo is inviting visitors to its meerkat enclosure to predict the World Cup results and pony "Caesar" will be making an appearance as a soccer oracle at the nationwide kick-off of the "Open Farm Day" in Wittichenau in eastern Saxony on Friday.

Tasty treats as motivation

However, unlike millions of soccer fans, the animals probably don't give a damn about the World Cup overseas. To motivate them to bet, the keepers are relying on their appetite. For example, the monkeys in Aue were motivated for the premiere with grasshoppers as a tasty treat. Elephant bull Kibo in Erfurt will be served two piles of food on Saturday. "Both contain the same proportions of hay, carrots and bread," assures the zoo park. "Whichever pile of food he heads for first, his team is the clear loser. The team is literally eaten."

PR campaign with an educational mission

For the zoos, the animal oracles are an entertaining event to attract attention - for example on their social media channels. However, Magdeburg Zoo emphasizes that it is also about doing educational work. The aim of the campaign is to sensitize visitors to zoological topics in an entertaining way and to provide insights into the keeping of African elephants. For the macaws at Leipzig Zoo, playing with the balls for the oracle is both part of their training and an activity for the birds, explains zookeeper Florian Ullmann.