Not 'Nostradamus', Not AI: Pygmy Hippo Moo Deng Predicts US Polls Right

Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippopotamus from Thailand, must be doing splish-splash or simply chilling and relaxing in the water, protecting her delicate skin from the harsh sun. The baby hippo is unaware and unbothered by her latest achievement. No mean feat, Moo Deng's prediction of Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election proved to be bang on.

From Nostradamus' “13 Keys to the White House” system to ChatGPT's “dark horse”, everything failed in front of baby Hippo Moo Deng's cute walk to the humble fruit bowl in the name of former US president Donald Trump.

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On Monday, a day before the US election, Moo Deng was asked to predict the US presidential election result. The internet sensation Moo Deng was called out of water, with food as the bait. The baby hippo was given two watermelons with candidates' names written over them. She walked straight to the fruit basket, made using a watermelon shell, for the Republican leader and relished it to the core.

She ate and left no crumbs.

The video was recorded at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Thailand.

On the contrary, Allan Lichtman, Nostradamus of US polls, who has forecasted the winner of every election since 1984 right, was proven wrong. In 1981, he developed the 13 "Keys to the White House" system, identifying that governance, not campaign tactics, decides the US elections. Using the same model, he predicted Kamala Harris' victory.

"Consign them (opinion polls) to the flames," Mr Lichtman had told NDTV before the elections. "Yes, we are going to have Kamala Harris, a new path-breaking president, the first woman president and the first president of mixed African and Asian descent.”

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Interestingly, when the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT was asked to pick a winner between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, it chose neither and instead suggested that "a dark horse would rise from the shadows to take power".

According to the report, adding a poetic twist to its prediction, the AI said, “But in the final hour, a twist unforeseen, neither may claim the throne of serene. A name unspoken in many a tale will rise to power, beyond the pale. Though Trump and Kamala shall fight with might, another will lead, emerging from the night.”

Moo Deng, The New Political Analyst In Town

Born in July 2024, Moo Deng is a celebrity hippo and an internet sensation, courtesy of her playful antics. The pint-sized creature went viral after her handlers posted videos of her on TikTok and Instagram from her home.

Recently she caught the attention of the netizens with her “moonwalk”, reminiscent of American singer-dancer Michael Jackson's iconic dance move.

Named through a public poll, Moo Deng's name translates to “bouncy pork” in Thai. She has become the face of the endangered pygmy hippo. Her popularity led to a 4-fold increase in the zoo's revenue earlier in September.