Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Pygmy Hippo Moo Deng Has a Face That Launches Thousands of Memes
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 weeks ago on
September 19, 2024

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng walks at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CHONBURI — Only a month after Thailand’s adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable.

Fans unable to make the two-hour drive to Khao Kheow Open Zoo from the Thai capital Bangkok to see her in person can watch her video clips online, or simply scroll through social media to savor meme after meme.

Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years. He never imagined the zoo’s newborn pygmy hippo would become an internet megastar within weeks.

Moo Deng Draws Crowds and Cheers

Cars started lining up outside the zoo well before it opened Thursday. Visitors traveled from near and far for a chance to see the pudgy, expressive 2-month-old in person at the zoo about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bangkok. The pit where Moo Deng lives with her mom, Jona, was packed almost immediately, with people cooing and cheering every time the pink-cheeked baby animal made skittish movements.

“It was beyond expectation,” Atthapon told The Associated Press. “I wanted people to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, or watch her online, or leave fun comments. I never would’ve thought (of this).”

Moo Deng, which literally means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is a type of meatball. The name was chosen by fans via a poll on social media, and it matches her other siblings: Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). There is also a common hippo at the zoo named Kha Moo (stewed pork leg).

“She’s such a little lump. I want to ball her up and swallow her whole!” said Moo Deng fan Areeya Sripanya while visiting the zoo Thursday.

Moo Deng’s Internet Fame Explodes

Artists have drawn cartoons, cakes and latte art based on her, and social media platform X even featured her in its official account’s post.

Her image adorns memes by German soccer team FC Bayern, American basketball team Phoenix Suns, and American football team Washington Commanders, as well as the New York Mets. Simple photo manipulation puts her in a variety of headgear or human-like situations.

Businesses, too, have utilized her image. Sephora Thailand has a makeup tip — “wear your blush like a baby hippo” — highlighting her pink cheeks, while food delivery app Grab Thailand imagined with photos what kind of meal she could garnish.

With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun copyrighting and trademarking “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. “After we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animals’ lives better,” he said.

The zoo sits on 800 hectares (almost 2,000 acres) of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals. It runs breeder programs for many endangered species like Moo Deng’s. The pygmy hippopotamus that’s native to West Africa is threatened by poaching and loss of habitat. There are only 2,000-3,000 of them left in the wild.

To help fund the initiative, the zoo is making Moo Deng shirts and pants that will be ready for sale at the end of the month, with more merchandise to come.

Moo Deng’s Personality Shines Through

Narongwit believes a factor of Moo Deng’s fame is her name, which compliments her energetic and chaotic personality captured in Atthapon’s creative captions and video clips.

Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or bounce, and Atthapon has many moments of her giddy bouncing on social media. Even when she’s not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute — squirming as Atthapon tries to wash her, biting him while he was trying to play with her, calmly closing her eyes as he rubs her pinkish cheeks or her chubby belly.

Atthapon, who has worked at the zoo for eight years taking care of hippos, sloths, capybaras and binturongs, said baby hippos are usually more playful and energetic, and they become calmer as they get older.

The zoo saw a spike in visitors since Moo Deng’s fame — so much that the zoo now has to limit public access to the baby’s enclosure to 5-minute windows throughout the day during weekends.

Narongwit said the zoo has been receiving over 4,000 visitors during a weekday, up from around just 800 people, and more than 10,000 during a weekend, up from around 3,000 people.

But the fame has also brought some aggressive visitors to Moo Deng, who only wakes up ready to play about two hours a day. Some videos showed visitors splashing water or throwing things at the sleeping Moo Deng to try to wake her up. The hippo pit now has a warning sign against throwing things at Moo Deng, posted prominently at the front in Thai, English and Chinese.

Narongwit said the zoo would take action under the animal protection law if people mistreat the animal. But clips emerged of people treating Moo Deng poorly, and the backlash was fierce. The zoo director said that since then, they haven’t seen anyone doing it again.

For fans who can’t make the journey or are discouraged after seeing the crowds for Moo Deng, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo set up cameras and plan to start a 24-hour live feed of the baby hippo in the coming week.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fresno Rotary Surprises Marjaree Mason Center CEO With $100K Donation

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Audra McDonald and Other Stars Join Livestreamed ‘Broadway Rallies for Kamala’

DON'T MISS

Sanger High School Lockdown Caused by Hoax Threat

DON'T MISS

FUSD Staff Answers School Board President Wittrup’s Questions on Measure H

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: New Community Libraries Coming to Reedley and Clovis

DON'T MISS

Former Employees Sue Fresno Cannabis Retailer. City Investigates.

DON'T MISS

Fresno Shooting Outside Restaurant Leaves One Dead, Suspect in Custody

DON'T MISS

Want a Voice in Fresno Unified’s Budget? Community Meetings Scheduled

DON'T MISS

Fresno Humane Teams With San Francisco SPCA and SNIP Bus on Spay/Neuter Initiative

DON'T MISS

Former Valley School Security Boss Gets Two Year Sentence in Explosives Case

UP NEXT

Fresno’s Audra McDonald and Other Stars Join Livestreamed ‘Broadway Rallies for Kamala’

UP NEXT

Sanger High School Lockdown Caused by Hoax Threat

UP NEXT

FUSD Staff Answers School Board President Wittrup’s Questions on Measure H

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: New Community Libraries Coming to Reedley and Clovis

UP NEXT

Former Employees Sue Fresno Cannabis Retailer. City Investigates.

UP NEXT

Fresno Shooting Outside Restaurant Leaves One Dead, Suspect in Custody

UP NEXT

Want a Voice in Fresno Unified’s Budget? Community Meetings Scheduled

UP NEXT

Fresno Humane Teams With San Francisco SPCA and SNIP Bus on Spay/Neuter Initiative

UP NEXT

Former Valley School Security Boss Gets Two Year Sentence in Explosives Case

UP NEXT

Inside the Battle for America’s Most Consequential Battleground State

FUSD Staff Answers School Board President Wittrup’s Questions on Measure H

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: New Community Libraries Coming to Reedley and Clovis

9 hours ago

Former Employees Sue Fresno Cannabis Retailer. City Investigates.

9 hours ago

Fresno Shooting Outside Restaurant Leaves One Dead, Suspect in Custody

10 hours ago

Want a Voice in Fresno Unified’s Budget? Community Meetings Scheduled

10 hours ago

Fresno Humane Teams With San Francisco SPCA and SNIP Bus on Spay/Neuter Initiative

10 hours ago

Former Valley School Security Boss Gets Two Year Sentence in Explosives Case

11 hours ago

Inside the Battle for America’s Most Consequential Battleground State

12 hours ago

Turkish Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Pilot Dies

12 hours ago

Meeting of Western Leaders on Ukraine Is Postponed in Setback for Kyiv

12 hours ago

Fresno Rotary Surprises Marjaree Mason Center CEO With $100K Donation

Fresno Rotary surprised Marjaree Mason Center CEO Nicole Linder with a $100,000 donation to the domestic abuse shelter and counseling center...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Fresno Rotary Surprises Marjaree Mason Center CEO With $100K Donation

Broadway Stars Backing Kamala Harris
8 hours ago

Fresno’s Audra McDonald and Other Stars Join Livestreamed ‘Broadway Rallies for Kamala’

8 hours ago

Sanger High School Lockdown Caused by Hoax Threat

9 hours ago

FUSD Staff Answers School Board President Wittrup’s Questions on Measure H

Wired Wednesday cover for October 9th, 2024.
9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: New Community Libraries Coming to Reedley and Clovis

9 hours ago

Former Employees Sue Fresno Cannabis Retailer. City Investigates.

10 hours ago

Fresno Shooting Outside Restaurant Leaves One Dead, Suspect in Custody

10 hours ago

Want a Voice in Fresno Unified’s Budget? Community Meetings Scheduled

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend