The polls put on a knife-edge, but as Americans go to vote, Thailand’s superstar baby hippo has appeared to predict former president Donald Trump will regain the White House.
Moo Deng took the internet by storm with her adorable antics at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, quickly becoming a staple of social media memes and inspiring a raft of merchandise.
Now the four-month-old pygmy hippo, whose name translates to “bouncy pork”, has predicted a comeback victory for the Republican over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Offered two dishes of carved fruit, each emblazoned with one of the candidates’ names, Moo Deng chose Trump, posted on social media by the zoo. The video shows the dish with Harris’ name being eaten by the mother.
Moo Deng has proved a particular hit in the US, where comedian Bowen Yang portrayed her in a “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch.
She also featured as a “write-in” in an unofficial presidential poll run by “The Tonight Show” in September, beating both Trump and Harris, and taking 93 per cent of the vote.
While the soothsaying skills of hippos are largely untested, other animals have achieved global fame predicting the outcome of world events, most notably the legendary Paul the Octopus.
The clairvoyant cephalopod shot to global stardom by correctly predicting eight matches in the 2010 World Cup from his aquarium in Germany.
