An Academy Award-predicting possum? Cross-eyed Heidi's tips for the top Oscar winners

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Squinting possum: Heidi's pronounced squint doesn't prevent her from leading a full life...and she has hidden talents


A cross-eyed possum in Germany is predicting this years Oscar winners.

Following in the footsteps of Paul the octopus, who predicted the World Cup results, Heidi the possum is giving her tips for the Academy Awards.


Heidi the cute marsupial gives her tips for the Academy Awards by sniffing and touching the fake Oscar statuettes, complete with squinty eyed actors pinned to each one


Each day the cute marsupial is being released in a pen, where she comes face to face with a row of fake Oscar statuettes.

Whichever statue she touches with her paw first signifies the winner in that category.

On Tuesday night, Heidi picked Black Swan star Natalie Portman to take home the Best Actress award.

The possum made Portman her chosen one after sniffing around the trophies and walking in and out of her box.


Out of the box: Here she comes for her daily walk around her pen, ready to choose the next Academy Award winner


The hilarious footage was broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel's US chat show.

A picture of each actress was taped to each statuette - complete with cross eyes to make Heidi feel at home.

Heidi, who is believed to be two-and-a-half-years-old, was abandoned outside an animal shelter in North Carolina in the United States with her sister Naira, and has been living at Leipzig Zoo in Germany since May last year.


Which one will win? Heidi's on the prowl, inspecting all the statuettes put out for her yesterday


The zoo thinks her eye condition could have been caused by her diet before she was abandoned, or because she is overweight, leading to fat deposits behind her eyes.

Heidi, who will be picking Oscar winners on Kimmel's show all week, already has thousands of followers on her Facebook page.

Her popularity is reminiscent of Knut the polar bear, who became a global star in 2007 and even featured on the front of Vanity Fair magazine.

She has also been compared to Paul the octopus, who achieved fame when he correctly predicted the outcome of matches in last year's football World Cup. Paul died from natural causes in October.


Heidi the Cross-Eyed Possum Picks the Winners - Best Actress



source: dailymail

Ouch! What did you do that for? The playful white lions relieved to be out of quarantine after ten weeks

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Nippy: A female lwhite ion yelps as mischievous male, Credo, bites her at Ouwehands Zoo in The Netherlands


He's the colour of snow... and just as nippy.

But the bite this male giving his fellow white lion a bite, causing her to yelp, is only playful.


Mane event: The four lions, which cannot survive in the wild, are on public view for the first time


They are among four big cats who have just been released from quarantine after travelling to Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, Holland, from the Timbavati Game Reserve in South Africa.

The male, Credo, is seven months old and the females, Ilanga, Bhandura and Luna, are aged ten months.

Yesterday was their first appearance in public at the zoo, which is specialised in the care of endangered species.


Hiding: The three young females hide as Credo stalks his enclosure looking to pounce with aim of playing


Gotcha! But Credo is pounced on before he has a chance to move


Trio: The women of the pride like to hang around together and a wary of male Credo


What's that? The lions look bemused by the viewing public


White lions cannot survive in the wild because their colour stands out, not making for very good camouflage.

The animals, which usually live for around 29 years, can weigh up to 31 stone (434lb).


source: dailymail

He didn't see that one coming: Paul the psychic 'World Cup octopus' is found dead

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE

Paul correctly predicted the results of six World Cup games involving German, including the final when he went for Spain


Paul the octopus, who won unlikely worldwide fame correctly predicting a host of World Cup matches, has died, his owners said today.

Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany, said: 'His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself.'

Paul predicted the winners of all Germany's World Cup clashes, and then of the final by selecting one of two boxes, each loaded with a mussel food treat and marked on the outside with one of the teams.

Staff at the centre said his death was not entirely unexpected, since common octopuses generally only live a couple of years.

'He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here,' said Mr Porwoll.
'We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds and erect a modest permanent shrine.'

Paul will live on meanwhile in the form of a range of commercial enterprises ranging from special clothing lines to mobile phone applications.

He will also feature in a documentary to be released early next year.



source: dailymail