Social media introduced us to more adorable animals than we can count, but none of them compares to Moo Deng. If you still haven’t heard of this baby hippo from Thailand, stick around since there’s a reason why she’s the internet’s latest viral obsession.
Moo Deng was born in Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand about two months ago, and she’s been destined for great things from the get-go. The zoo launched a public poll to choose the name for this baby hippo, and Moo Deng aka “bouncy pork” in Thai emerged as the top choice, after receiving over 20,000 votes.
Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee later helped Moo Deng go viral after sharing a series of clips that capture her silly shenanigans. These videos attracted new visitors to the zoo, but they had to introduce new crowd control measures to keep Moo and other animals at the zoo safe and sound, even putting cameras around her enclosure.
In addition to raising funds for the zoo, Moo Deng is bringing attention to her endangered species Choeropsis liberiensis. She became a true pop culture phenomenon, and we’ve seen people create crypto coins, fan art, and toys in her image, while the comedian Bowen Yang dressed up as her in a recent episode of the cult sketch comedy Saturday Night Live.
