A “psychic” crocodile named Harry last week tipped Prime Minister Julia Gillard to win the razor-tight Australian election, siding with pollsters and bookmakers — and an octopus called Cassandra.
Harry, a feisty five-meter saltwater croc, took several minutes to decide before snapping up a chicken labelled with Gillard’s picture, snubbing another carcass representing opposition chief Tony Abbott.
“Harry’s come over to the area, he’s lifted his head in the air and he’s just nailed Gillard as clean as you want,” Nigel Palmer, Harry’s handler at Darwin’s Crocosaurus Cove attraction, told AFP.
“So we’re thinking he’s predicted the ranga (red head) to win the election.”
Gillard can take heart from the endorsement after the crocodilian clairvoyant also correctly picked Spain to win last month’s World Cup final against the Netherlands.
“Harry selected Spain over the Netherlands, so he knows what he’s doing,” Palmer explained.
Staff at the park were inspired to test Harry’s prescience by German octopus “Paul,” who shot to global fame after correctly calling eight World Cup games including the final.
Harry, a 750-kg beast, is 45 years old and “in his prime,” his keeper said, with an aggressive streak and a reputation as a “handler hunter.”
“Nature says that the crocodiles have been around a lot longer than octopuses, we’re talking 40-odd million years longer,” he said.
“So we’re sort of thinking that’s his advantage over an octopus — he knows what he’s doing.”
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper’s own “psychic” octopus, Cassandra, also called the vote for Gillard when the election was first called, while opinion polls and punters give the prime minister a narrow lead.
And what will happen to Abbott’s chicken? “That’ll be turned into croc poo,” Palmer laughed.(AFP)
一隻名叫哈利，號稱能「通靈」的鱷魚上週預測總理茱利亞•吉拉德將贏得這場差距極微的選舉，恰巧跟民調與賭注登記機構─以及一隻叫做卡桑德拉的章魚預測的一樣。
這隻脾氣不好，身長達五公尺的鹹水鱷魚，花了數分鐘才決定，一口吃了吉拉德照片下的雞肉，而遺留另一個代表反對黨領袖的艾伯特的肉塊。
達爾文鱷魚主題公園，負責照顧哈利的馴獸員耐傑•帕爾莫告訴法新社，「哈利來到附近，把頭高高抬起在空中，一口把吉拉德給吃得一乾二淨。」
「所以我們覺得它在預測這位紅髮人會贏得選舉。」
吉拉德在獲得特異功能鱷魚的背書後，可以說是打了一劑強心針，這鱷魚在上個月的世界杯足球賽，也準確預測西班牙打敗荷蘭，獲得冠軍。
帕爾莫解釋道，「哈利選擇西班牙而不是荷蘭，所以它知道自己在做什麼。」
主題公園的員工也對哈利的預測感到興趣，因為德國章魚「保羅」於世足賽準確預測八場賽事包括決賽，因而在全世界爆紅。
照顧哈利的人表示，這隻四十五歲的鱷魚體重達七百五十公斤，目前「正值壯年」且富攻擊性，還擁有「馴獸員殺手」的名聲。
他說，「鱷魚存在於世上遠比章魚還要久，我在講的可是超過四千萬年。」
「所以我們想這就是它比章魚還要厲害的地方─它知道自己在幹麻。」
雪梨晨鋒報自己的「通靈」章魚卡桑德拉，在各個民意調查與下注者預測吉拉德將以些微差距勝選時，也預測她將當選。
至於掛在艾伯特照片的雞肉會發生什麼事呢？帕爾莫笑道，「到最後肯定也會被吃掉，變成鱷魚排泄物。」
（法新社�翻譯：吳岱璟）
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