BANGKOK: Moo Deng has backed France and England to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup final after making her selections from flag-marked watermelon halves at Khao Kheow Open Zoo.
The light-hearted prediction was staged at the zoo in Si Racha district, Chonburi, on Tuesday (July 14) as the tournament entered its closing stages.
Tourists and football fans gathered around the pygmy hippo enclosure to watch Moo Deng choose between France and Spain in the first semi-final pairing and England and Argentina in the second.
Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi and Moo Deng’s keeper, known as Benz, prepared watermelon halves representing the four semi-finalists.
The team names were carved into the fruit, while a miniature national flag was inserted into the rind of each watermelon half.
Zoo officials displayed the France- and Spain-marked watermelons before placing them directly on the wet concrete floor inside the shallow pool area of Moo Deng’s enclosure.
The two watermelon halves were positioned a short distance apart, allowing Moo Deng to make her choice by approaching and eating from one of them.
For the first prediction, Moo Deng was presented with watermelon halves marked with the French and Spanish flags.
As soon as she was allowed into the area, the pygmy hippo walked directly towards the watermelon bearing the French flag and began eating it.
Her choice prompted cheers and smiles from visitors watching from outside the enclosure.
The selection represented a prediction that France would defeat Spain and advance to the World Cup final.
Moo Deng was then presented with another pair of watermelon halves representing England and Argentina.
She headed towards the watermelon marked with the English flag, completing her prediction that England would win the second semi-final.
Moo Deng’s two selections therefore produced a predicted World Cup final between France and England.
The result was intended purely as a playful forecast, with the zoo stressing that there was no guarantee the results on the pitch would match Moo Deng’s choices.
Narongwit said the activity was not organised solely to entertain visitors and football supporters.
It was also designed as part of the zoo’s animal-enrichment programme, under which food and other stimuli are used to encourage animals to move around, exercise and display natural behaviour.
The activity can help reduce stress while giving the animals appropriate portions of food in line with their nutritional requirements, he said.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo said Moo Deng’s World Cup prediction was intended to create an enjoyable atmosphere for visitors and promote the organisation.
The zoo also stressed that the event was not intended to encourage or support gambling in any form. - The Nation/ANN
