ZOOKEEPERS have revealed the 412 animals who will successfully predict the results of this year’s World Cup.

The animals hope to follow in the footsteps of 2010’s Paul the Octopus in a competition pundits predict will be far more intense and interesting than the actual games.

Wayne Hayes of London Zoo said: “Brett the zebra, with the uncanny ability to see the future granted to all African equids, has this World Cup locked up.

“All other animals can frankly piss off.”

But Mary Fisher of Edinburgh Zoo retorted: “Zebras know f**k all about football otherwise they wouldn’t wear Newcastle strips.

“You want astounding predictions from an in-vogue mammal, check out the prescient picks from Mairead the capybara, who’s got a 3-2 victory for France in extra time. Sponsored by Bet365.”

A spokesman for Berlin Zoological Garden said: “Mairead couldn’t even guess the winner of the Scottish Premier League out of Celtic or Celtic.

“She should stick to being disquietingly oversized vermin and leave the punditry to Gottlieb the giant anaconda, who tells us who the winner is by eating rats painted with national flags.”

Other prophetic animals include Barry the box jellyfish, Elmer the spot-breasted ibis, Chiyo the Thompson’s gazelle and Stephen the slime-mould from Braintree Spore Park.

Paul the Octopus, after successfully picking Spain as the winners in 2010, enjoyed sudden fame and embarked on a world tour before dying in the arms of a Las Vegas stripper.