Will the Chiefs or the 49ers win the Super Bowl? The animal kingdom weighs in : NPR
A dog dressed in a Patrick Mahomes jersey and its owner enter the Power and Light Entertainment District as fans prepare to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo.
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Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
A dog dressed in a Patrick Mahomes jersey and its owner enter the Power and Light Entertainment District as fans prepare to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo.
Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
Some sports commentators may clam up at being asked who will win this year’s Super Bowl, fearing that weighing in on the topic could open a can of worms.
Not so for countless animals across the U.S., who’ve been offering up their takes on which squad will emerge victorious in Sunday’s big game.
Furry fans at zoos, animal shelters and elsewhere have been making their picks — the San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs — proving that Punxsutawney Phil isn’t the animal kingdom’s only prognosticator.
At the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Fiona the hippo favored the 49ers to win the match-up while her brother, Fritz, indicated the Chiefs.
A majority of participating puppies at the Connecticut Humane Society in Newington ate food from a bowl representing the “Kansas City Beefs,” WTNH reported.
A pair of Texas State Aquarium otters and an El Paso Zoo mountain lion chose the Chiefs, too.
Meanwhile, ZooMontana’s red panda Pabu suggested the 49ers would take home the top prize, though Pabu also foretold of a Philadelphia Eagles victory last year, which did not come to pass.
Two miniature donkeys at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Harry and Lloyd, attempted to make their predictions for the game by eating hay out of mock footballs. However Harry and Lloyd seemed more concerned with their snack than their pick, so we’ll call it a tie.
Another tie was prophesied by a dozen dogs at the WCJC Animal Shelter in Johnson City, Tenn., who were evenly split on their guesses.
Rather than guessing the winner, some animals at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium simply dressed up in Chiefs gear to root on their home team.
You could listen to Super Bowl predictions until the cows come home, but the only way to know for sure who will win Sunday’s game is to wait and see.
