A cross-eyed opossum called Heidi, who has filled the void left by psychic Paul the Octopus, has predicted that Natalie Portman will walk away with this year's Best Actress Oscar.

    Heidi appeared via videolink from her zoo in Leipzig, Germany, on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", the US television show, to "select" her favoured candidate.

    A cross-eyed picture of each actress in the category – Portman, Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence and Michelle Williams – was taped to an Oscar statuette. Whichever statue Heidi touched with her paw first signified the winner.

    She took a long time deliberating over Kidman, nominated for her role in Rabbit Hole, and Lawrence, who stars in Winter's Bone, before eventually choosing Portman, widely considered the favourite for this weekend's award ceremony.

    Heidi is thought to be two and a half years old, and was abandoned outside an animal shelter in North Carolina in the United States, together with her sister Naira, and has been at Leipzig Zoo since May.

    Her popularity is reminiscent of Paul the Octopus, who achieved global fame for correctly "predicting" the outcome of matches in last year's football World Cup. Paul died from natural causes in October.

    Paul is to be honoured with a six foot statue on top of a football, however, in the middle of which will be a see-through window with the golden urn containing Paul's ashes.

    对眼负鼠海蒂近日预测，娜塔莉•波特曼将摘走本届奥斯卡影后的桂冠。海蒂被认为是神算章鱼保罗的继任者。

    在美国电视节目“吉米•基梅尔聊天秀”中，德国莱比锡动物园的对眼负鼠海蒂通过视频连线预测了奥斯卡评选结果。

    获得最佳女主角提名的几位女星的“对眼”头像被分别贴在“小金人”上，包括波特曼、安妮特•贝宁、妮可•基德曼、詹妮弗•劳伦斯和米歇尔•威廉姆斯。海蒂首先用爪触碰的小金人就是它预测的该奖项得主。

    海蒂在基德曼和劳伦斯之前徘徊了很久，最终选定了波特曼。波特曼也是本周末即将颁出的奥斯卡最佳女主角大热人选。基德曼因出演《兔子洞》获得提名，劳伦斯因出演《冬天的骨头》获提名。

    据悉，海蒂今年两岁半，此前曾和姐姐奈拉一同被遗弃在美国北卡罗来纳州的一家动物收容所外。自今年5月起，海蒂一直生活在德国莱比锡动物园。

    海蒂的流行让人想起章鱼保罗。保罗因准确预测去年世界杯赛果而走红全球，去年10月自然死亡。

    为了纪念保罗，人们将为它修建一座6英尺高的雕像。在雕像中，保罗立于一只足球之上。足球中心是一个可透视的小窗，里面放着盛有保罗骨灰的金色的骨灰瓮。