Utah Komodo dragon predicts Super Bowl winner
DRAPER, Utah (ABC4) — A Komodo dragon in Draper’s Loveland Living Planet Aquarium predicted the outcome of Super Bowl LVIII, less than a week before the game in Las Vegas.
The two-year-old Komodo dragon, named Raja, was given the choice between two papier-mâché footballs — one adorned with the logo for the Kansas City Chiefs and one with the logo of the San Francisco 49ers.
So, who did Raja pick? The 49ers.
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To keep the playing field even, each football had the same treat inside of it: frozen mice.
According to the aquarium, Komodo dragons can smell food from two to six miles away — and can even digest the skin, bones and hooves of their prey.
Raja entered his habitat from the left, slowly moving forward and using his tongue to sniff out the snacks that would lead to his decision. He took a second to check out the front of the 49ers football before sneaking around the back and going straight for the mice.
Since Raja is only two years old, he is not at his full size yet. The aquarium says Komodo dragons are typically between seven and nine feet long and weigh between 120 to 200 pounds. The largest individual Komodo dragon was 10 feet long and more than 300 pounds, according to the aquarium.
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In 2020, the outcome of Superbowl LIV — which was also between the 49ers and the Chiefs — was predicted by the aquarium’s two-toed sloth named Takoda. As it turned out, Takoda’s 2020 prediction was spot-on, with the Chiefs beating the 49ers 31 to 20.
“Super Bowl picks at the Aquarium are a fun tradition that not only provide unique enrichment activities for our animals but also opportunities for our guests to connect and explore, discover, and learn about various species and ecosystems on our living planet,” Aquarium Director of Marketing and PR Karmel Harper said.
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