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Is this prophetic penguin Paul the Octopus reborn?

The Local Germany
The Local Germany - [email protected]
Is this prophetic penguin Paul the Octopus reborn?
Photo: DPA

Flocke the Penguin is making his name as a psychic after a streak of correct football predictions.

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With the group stages only just concluded, it's still early days at this year's UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament, but not all the excitement is on the pitch.

Flocke is the youngest member of a penguin family at the Spreewelten baths in Lübbenau, Brandenburg.

There are 17 penguins in total at Spreewelten, and Flocke is perhaps the most beloved of them all.

Unlike his siblings, he had to be prised from his shell by keepers, which could be why he is so friendly with the keepers.

In addition to spending a lot of his time swimming with visitors, he also makes the odd football prediction.

"We picked him to be our football oracle this year because he's so gentle," says keeper Laura Schäfer in a press release on the Spreewelten website.

So far Germany has played three games in the tournament, and the penguin has predicted each outcome correctly.

Flocke's keepers place two green balls in front of the penguin and wait to see which one he will poke with his beak. The two balls are identical in shape and size, but they are plastered all over with either the German flag or the flag of Germany's next opponent.

For the games against Ukraine and Northern Ireland, the penguin knocked over Germany's ball, correctly predicting a German win both times.

But for the game against Poland, Flocke waddled right between the two balls, ignoring them completely. This was again a correct prediction of a draw.

All of Flocke's predictions can be seen on the Spreewelten's YouTube channel.

Flocke is by no means the first animal to predict football results.

Paul the octopus famously predicted the outcome of seven consecutive Germany games in the FIFA World Cup 2010 along with the winner in the final between Spain and the Netherlands.

Paul died in his tank at the Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium only months after the tournament ended.

Germany has entered the knockout stages of Euro 2016, and the team faces Slovakia in the Round of 16 on Sunday. Flocke has decided that Die Mannschaft will emerge victorious.

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