Zooper Bowl favors Panthers

Animals at Merced’s Applegate Park Zoo weren’t about to miss out on the weekend’s Super Bowl fun.

A cougar named Mac and a team of goats were called on to make their predictions on who would win Sunday’s big game in the city’s first “Zooper Bowl.”

“We’re all really excited here at the Applegate Park Zoo,” zookeeper Josh Moreno said ahead of the event Saturday. “This is our first time doing it, so it’s going to be really exciting to see how it goes down.”

Before a group of curious zoo visitors, Mac strode into an enclosure where he found two boxes decorated with the colors and symbols of the two NFL rivals – the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos.

Naturally, the cougar seemed to make an initial quick choice for the feline Panthers, but zookeepers called in the second squad of goats to help clarify the choice.

The goats made a drive for food bins identifying the two teams. While one of the mountain-loving creatures favored the Mile High City’s Broncos, the majority of the group predicted a Panther win.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Zooper Bowl favors Panthers."