RPT-Bushwacker the champion bull picks Seahawks to win Super Bowl

Hoping to follow in the hairy footsteps of an orangutan who correctly predicted the victors of the last seven Super Bowls, a world champion bucking bull dubbed the "baddest" on the planet is forecasting a win on Sunday for the Seattle Seahawks.

Elijah the orangutan died last year at a Utah zoo with his perfect record intact. Now Bushwacker, a 1,750-pound (794-kg) bull and three-time Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world champ, is getting into the game by attempting to divine the outcome of the biggest annual U.S. sporting event.

In a video released on Friday by the PBR organization, Bushwacker's owner, Julio Moreno, is seen letting the giant dark-brown beast into an enclosure on his California ranch where two feed buckets represented the Seahawks and their opponents, the New England Patriots.

After snorting and huffing in apparent concentration, the bull eventually dips his head to eat from the Seahawks one.

Bushwacker retired from competition on the PBR circuit last year after becoming a firm favorite with fans, for example by setting a record with 42 straight buckoffs, meaning he ejected the rider before the eight seconds required to receive a score.

The bull's Facebook page has more than 31,000 followers.

Elijah the orangutan had won widespread media attention for his string of winning Super Bowl predictions, which he made by choosing between a pair of NFL helmets set up in his pen.

Elijah passed away in September from complications due to breast cancer, which is extremely rare in orangutans with only two reported cases for females and no others in males.

Other animal oracles famed for their sports forecasts include Paul the octopus, which made a string of accurate picks that were broadcast live on television from his tank in Germany during the 2010 World Cup soccer finals in South Africa.

Paul died of natural causes later that year.