Thailand’s psychic lion correctly predicts four Euro 2020 matches

Boy, the psychic lion that lives at Khon Kaen Zoo in Thailand, has so far correctly called four Euro 2020 matches. The five-year-old lion makes his predictions by grabbing meat marked with national flags from a wire above his pen.

Boy, according to Bangkok Post, has notched four successes in the first round of matches, including world champions and tournament favorites France clawing their way 1-0 past Germany. The lion also predicted the win by the “Three Lions” of England over Croatia, Holland’s narrow victory over Ukraine and Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal’s demolition of Hungary.

Obkaew Janpatun of Khon Kaen Zoo told AFP that Boy previously predicted other football matches in the English Premier League, but the predictions were not accurate. “Accurate predictions only emerged recently.”

Reports highlight that Boy makes his predictions by selecting a piece of meat that are attached to a zip wire which runs over the top of his enclosure. Each piece of meat has a national flag attached to it, with the lion deemed to have chosen a team based on which piece of meat he eats first! For the match between England and Scotland, the oldest most played fixture in international football, Boy initially seemed to indicate that it was a draw. When he leaped at bthe meat, both the English and Scottish portions appeared to fall together, but VAR had other ideas. Zoo observers, after reviewing the video footage, ruled that he had made a clear grab at the Scots’ meat first, suggesting the a win for Scotland. He foresaw wins for France over Hungary and for Germany against Portugal, and victory for Wales over Italy in Rome on Sunday.

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Boy’s feat has made sporting fans nostalgic of Paul the octopus, who earned a reputation as an animal oracle by predicting Germany football results during the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup. To make predictions, Paul was presented with two identical boxes with food inside, with a team assigned to each box. The octopus was said to have chosen whichever team’s box he ate the food from first.