This Super Bowl team got the seal of approval from a Riverbanks Zoo animal
Super Bowl Sunday is today, and it seems like everyone has made a prediction on who will win the NFL’s biggest game of the year.
That includes an animal at Riverbanks Zoo.
Gambit, a 13-year-old harbor seal, picked a winner between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, who will play in Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
During an event at the zoo, Gambit picked the Chiefs to prevail. But his prediction wasn’t the most scientific process.
The “popular pinniped ... will fish out his Super Bowl pick,” zoo officials said in a news release.
During Friday’s 2:30 p.m. Sea Lion Presentation, zookeepers tossed two footballs in the pool for Gambit to choose from — one was marked with the Chiefs’ logo and the other with the 49ers’ logo.
Hidden beneath Gambit’s whiskers was the Chiefs’ logo, according to a picture shared on Riverbanks’ Facebook page.
This is the third year in a row an inhabitant of the Columbia zoo weighed in on who will win pro football’s biggest game.
Gambit took the mantle of picking a Super Bowl champion from Maverick. The rescued 7-year-old California sea lion made predictions the past two years, and went 1-1.
Maverick seemed to prefer teams with animal nicknames (Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams) over the New England Patriots. Gambit didn’t have that option ... but Kansas City does have a cartoonish wolf mascot that replaced Warpaint, a horse that used to appear at Chiefs home games.
Gambit is one of more than 2,000 animals living at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, which is open until 5 p.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 8:26 AM.
