Thai baby hippo internet star draws thousands to its zoo

CHONBURI: Thailand’s latest internet celebrity, baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng, is challenging its keepers with the unexpectedly big crowds it is drawing to its zoo, two hours south of the capital Bangkok.
Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncing pig” in Thai, has millions of fans on social media following its clumsily charming adventures, including trying to nibble its handler despite still lacking teeth.
“Normally on weekdays and in the rainy season – which is a low season – we’d be getting around 800 visitors each day,” said Narongwit Chodchoy, director of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province.
But the zoo is now getting 3,000 to 4,000 people on weekdays, and welcomed 20,000 visitors over the weekend, the 51-year-old said – most of them lining up to see Moo Deng.
“Moo Deng fever means we will have (to) organise better so all visitors can see her,” Narongwit said.
On Monday (Sep 16) morning, the pink-cheeked hippo, whose siblings are called Pork Stew and Sweet Pork, was sitting happily in a bowl of vegetables and other snacks.
“I left home in Bangkok from 6.30 this morning just to come and see Moo Deng,” said 45-year-old Ekaphak Mahasawad. “I’m only here to see her.”
Moo Deng’s caretaker and social media manager Atthapon Nundee, 31, said the rise of short-form videos has turbocharged the pygmy hippo’s fame and hopes it will be a boon for biodiversity preservation.
“With more and more images of pygmy hippos online, more people fell in love with them. They are poached in the wild, so with more people caring about them, it might prevent their poaching,” he told AFP.
Moo Deng’s grandmother, Malee, recently celebrated its 59th birthday as Thailand’s oldest hippo.
Native to West Africa, the pygmy hippo is threatened by human activities, such as logging, mining and poaching, and there are only 2,000 to 2,500 left in the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
A 2022 study published by the Royal Society of Canada’s Academy of Science shows that social media can play both positive and negative roles in wildlife conservation.
Public attention may help raise awareness about endangered wildlife but can increase the risk of species exploitation as more people try to come in contact with them.
Zoo management says the extra earnings from skyrocketing visitor numbers – almost double over the weekend – will go towards improving the pygmy hippo enclosure and the zoo’s public awareness campaigns.
The zoo also plans to launch a line of Moo Deng merchandise next month.
Pygmy hippos are not native to Thailand, but “zoos have a duty to lead in wildlife conservation outside natural habitats”, Narongwit said.
“So it’s our mission to perpetuate the species for as long as possible.”