A four-month-old chimpanzee at Wingham Wildlife Park near Canterbury, Kent, has entered the realm of animal oracle, offering her predictions for the England men's football team's performance at the 2026 World Cup. Named Jane, the young primate has already made her inaugural forecast, indicating an England victory in their Group L opener against Croatia.
According to Holly Whylock, head of primates at the park, the prediction process involves Jane, who is currently at the crawling stage, choosing between two flags. A St George's flag representing England is laid out alongside the flag of their opponent. The team whose flag Jane crawls towards is deemed her predicted winner. Whylock noted that Jane is considered a 'big England fan'.
Jane's journey at the wildlife park has been unique since her birth. She was rejected by her mother and consequently has been hand-reared by the park's owners, Tony and Jackie Binskin, even sharing their bed for her first month. Keepers now care for her during the day with the primary goal of reintegrating her with her chimpanzee family. This complex process requires significant planning, including training other chimps to ensure Jane can safely return to the enclosure and be fed.
Park staff are particularly focused on helping Jane form an attachment with her aunt, Georgia, given her mother's refusal to care for her. Should England reach the World Cup final, scheduled for 19th July in New York, Jane would have made eight predictions. Her selections are part of a broader trend of animal 'predictors' that often emerge as a source of entertainment during major football tournaments, following in the footsteps of figures like Paul the Octopus.
Past animal prognosticators have seen varied success. Paul the Octopus famously achieved a high accuracy rate between 2008 and 2010, correctly predicting 12 out of 14 matches at the Euros and World Cup. However, Angus the Horse, from the Kent/Sussex borders, was less accurate during the 2018 World Cup, predicting only two England wins despite their progression to the semi-finals. Interestingly, Jane belongs to the Western Chimpanzee subspecies, which can be found in Ghana, one of England's World Cup opponents on 23rd June, prompting a humorous observation from Whylock about potential bias.