Sonny Wool (2008–2020) was a

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

from the North Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Born in Dannevirke circa 2008, he was named after

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Sonny Bill Williams. He became famous after his feeding behaviour was used to correctly predict the winner of each of the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

's matches at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. His role at the 2011 Rugby World Cup was compared to that of

Paul the Octopus Paul the Octopus (26 January 2008 – 26 October 2010) was a common octopus used to predict the results of international association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal ...

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Sonny Wool’s owner was Beverley Dowling. His agent was Dan Boyd, who also designed the sheep’s prediction process. The prediction process was designed so that Sonny Wool was presented with two boxes containing feed in the form of

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

, each box marked on the outside with the flag of a national

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team in a forthcoming match. His choice of which hay to eat first was interpreted as indicating his prediction of a win for the country whose flag was on that box. Selections by the sheep were correct in all of New Zealand’s matches in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, though predictions for the other three quarter-finals turned out to be incorrect. Sonny Wool had his own website,

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and

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accounts. He was reported to be under 24-hour security watch after receiving death threats.

Personality

According to Dan Boyd, as a lamb, Sonny Wool predicted when it was going to rain. His manager described him as "a bit socially inept" who prefers the company of humans and has "got a few fetishes for things – one is light at night and he really likes rugby balls".Rugby World Cup 2011: psychic sheep Sonny Wool meets Sonny Bill Williams and backs All Blacks to beat Canada
by Giles Mole, The Telegraph, 27 Sep 2011.

Results

2011 Rugby World Cup

References

External links

Website
{{New Zealand national rugby union team Oracular animals 2011 Rugby World Cup New Zealand at the 2011 Rugby World Cup Sheep farming in New Zealand Individual sheep Dannevirke 2008 animal births Individual animals in New Zealand

Personality

Results

2011 Rugby World Cup

See also

References

External links