CHONBURI, Thailand (Reuters) – Thailand’s latest internet celebrity, baby hippo “Moo Deng”, is challenging her keepers with the unexpectedly big crowds she is drawing to her 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 her clumsily charming adventures, including trying to nibble her 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 Narungwit 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, he said – most of them lining up to see Moo Deng.
“Moo Deng fever means we will have organise better so all visitors can see her,” Narungwit said.
CHONBURI, THAILAND – 2024/09/08: A zoo worker plays with a female dwarf hippopotamus named “Moo Deng”, which means Pork bouncy at Khao Kheow Open Zoo. The new star of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo is a female dwarf hippopotamus. Born on July 10, 2024, to a mother named Jona, 25 years old, and a father named Tony, 24 years old, the bouncy pig is the 7th animal of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo from these parents. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, rests at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images) 
Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, is showered alongside her mother Jona, 25, at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images) 
Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, reacts to a zookeeper at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images) 
Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, is showered by a zookeeper at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images) 
Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has recently become a viral internet sensation, follows her mother Jona, 25, at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
On Monday 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 grandmother, Malee, recently celebrated her 59th birthday as Thailand’s oldest hippo.
(Reporting by Artorn Pookasook and Juarawee Kittisilpa, Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
