Pavlik the octopus ready to predict winners for Euro 2012

Not only is Pavlik ready, he is apparently also going to be channeled by Yvonne the cow. Get ready to run to the bookmakers!

Remember Paul the Octopus who made some incredible predictions for the FIFA World Cup series? Well now he has a namesake in Ukraine, Pavlik (Ukrainian for Paul). Unfortunately due to technical problems at the zoo, he wasn't quite ready to get going on the first day of the tournament, so he missed a couple of games. However, Viktor Zhilenko, director of the Alushta aquarium (where Pavlik resides) has said, “Pavlik will be ready to predict results on Monday when the Ukrainian team kicks off the game.” Pavlik the Octopus was born in Alushta Zoo and has been training all winter. The "psychic" octopus bets by choosing one of the boxes, which have the names of the countries written on them. Apparently Pavlik has already been quite accurate in predicting the results of some European matches played by the Ukrainian team. While both Ukrainian Pavlik, and the former German Paul are from the same Mediterranean species group, we will have to wait and see if he is as accurate as his predecessor. Helping Pavlik with his predictions will be Yvonne the cow. This Bavarian bovine oracle is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the original Paul the Octopus. Ulli Wagner of Bayern 3, the radio station for whom Yvonne will make her predictions says, "She has character and she has personality." On top of this there is apparently a whole menagerie of other animals getting into the act. In Germany, there is Emma the pig, Xaver the bulldog, Mörmel the otter, Nelly the elephant, Traudl the goat, Axel the axolotl and also, apparently, the Baltic Sea seagulls living on the island of Usedom. In Switzerland there are rabbits. Ukraine, besides the famous Pavlik the Octopus, apparently has a gigantic hog ready to make predictions, and Poland has yet another elephant. Citta, the Polish elephant is a 33-year-old female from India who lives in a zoo in Krakow. She apparently correctly predicted that Chelsea would win the Champions League title. Not sure if you should really run to the bookmaker and place money on these many and varied creatures' predictions. However, if any of them comes up to the abilities of the late Paul the Octopus, it might be worthwhile!