The animals at Drusillas Park in East Sussex have predicted that the Lionesses will progress through to the semi-final. The group correctly predicted the result of England’s round of 16 fixture against Nigeria. A spokesperson from the zoo said: “The special method used involves two buckets of tasty treats - each with a team's flag on. The buckets are placed down before the meerkats are released and left to choose which bucket they would prefer to eat from. The bucket surrounded by the most meerkats is declared the predicted winner.” The ‘mystic meerkats’ have been predicting football results since 2021, and last year the mob correctly predicted the Lionesses’ results all the way to the Euro 2022 final when the team brought it home. Keepers say the meerkats now recognise the buckets and run excitedly to get involved, with lots of happy chirping sounds as they choose which bucket to feast from. The spokesperson added: “Although it might seem a strange activity for meerkats, the activity forms part of the zoo’s daily enrichment programme which makes sure all the animals enjoy a diverse diet in imaginative and unusual ways. The activities encourage them to think and work for their food, like they would in the wild, and it's now become a bit of a tradition.” Zoo section leader Claudia Farley said: “Whether you are superstitious or not, the meerkats have a pretty impressive track record with their predictions so maybe they know something we don’t. It’s now become a tradition here at the zoo and this year even our new baby, Reggie, who is only a couple of months old, was in on the action too. We’re big football fans here and are so proud of our Lionesses, so it would be amazing for England to win as the meerkats have predicted." She added: “Sometimes they take a while to settle on a decision, but today they almost immediately focused on the England bucket, with only a couple of sniffs for Colombia. They even knocked the England bucket over, so we’re going to take that to mean a very confident decision.”
