Princess, who for 10 years was a fixture of the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township, New Jersey, had to be put down just weeks before the state hosts its first Superbowl.
The
Bactrian Camel had a history of reliability in her choice of winner - she correctly picked the Baltimore Ravens in last year's Super Bowl. Zoo manager
John Bergmann would help Princess make her choice by holding a Graham Cracker in each hand with a team name written on it, the hand she chose would be the team that won.
Before anyone scoffs at the notion of a camel being able to predict the NFL results, it should be noted that in 2008 — her best season — Princess predicted 17 games correctly out of 22 she had to choose from. Her entire record up to December 2012 was 88-50 in favour, with Super Bowl's notching her up six correct predictions since she started predicting in 2006.
Princess is one of many animals through the years that has been able to predict the results of sports matches. In 2010
Paul the Octopus took the world by storm during the FIFA Soccer World Cup held in Germany — where Paul was also living at the time — with 11 correct predictions out of 13 including the winner of the 2010 final.
