CHONBURI To commemorate the first birthday of the cute baby pygmy hippo that has grown into a star, thousands of enthusiastic fans gathered at a Thai zoo on Thursday.
On the first of four days of celebrations for the hippo’s birthday, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo was crowded with Moo Deng lovers. During the celebration, children under the age of twelve are admitted free of charge to the zoo, which is roughly two hours’ drive from Bangkok.
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Thrilled fans
To visit Moo Deng, many of her admirers traveled great distances.
Molly Swindall, who came from New York for the festivities, was one of them. She was observed giving a zookeeper a tray of food for Moo Deng’s breakfast, which was promptly gobbled up by the baby hippo and her mother Jona.
“You know what, I have three or four days off from work,” Swindall added, “and I can make it work to fly to Thailand because I just loved her so much.” Even though I will only be there for roughly thirty hours, I will be able to see Moo Deng. And I did precisely that.
According to zoo director Narongwit Chodchoy, 12,000 people had visited by Thursday afternoon. Moo Deng seemed calm as she swam in a pond in her enclosure, despite the din of tourists yelling for her attention.
As her birthday cake, composed of various fruits and vegetables, was set up next to the pond, fans sung “Happy Birthday” and took pictures of the young hippo using their cameras or cell phones.
My happy pill, energy pill, and healing pill is Moo Deng. Thea Chavez, who arrived by plane from Houston, Texas, declared, “She’s my vitamin.”
Jennifer Tang, a Malaysian enthusiast, leaned over the cage to get photos.
She brings me joy. Tang remarked, “I look at pictures of Moo Deng whenever I’m feeling stressed at work.” “So everyone at my office is aware that I’m here…. I’m allowed to take a week off.
To commemorate Moo Deng’s birthday, the zoo organized online auctions where they offered pictures, footprints, and a food container to generate money for all the animals in their care.
For the pleasure of sponsoring her birthday cake, they also staged an auction; the cake sold for 100,000 baht ($3,065).
A celebrity baby hippo
Thanks in great part to her caretaker Atthapon Nundee, who posted cute photos and videos of the baby hippo on social media, Moo Deng shot to fame soon after her birth. Fans of Moo Deng are kept informed by Atthapon about amusing hippo moments, such as when she writhes while he attempts to bathe her, bites him while he tries to play, or quietly closes her eyes while he rubs her tummy.
Through a social media survey, supporters selected the name Moo Deng, which translates to “bouncy pork” in Thai. Her other siblings’ names are Moo Waan (sweet pork) and Moo Toon (stewed pork). Kha Moo (stewed pork leg) is the name of another hippo at the zoo.
The 800-hectare (almost 2,000-acre) zoo, which is home to over 2,000 animals, had a surge in visitors soon after Moo Deng’s birth. However, Narongwit claimed that fewer people have visited since Moo Deng’s heyday. Over the past three months, he added, the zoo has had roughly 2,000 people on weekdays and 5,000 on weekends, which is roughly half of the numbers it saw at its busiest.
Narongwit told The Associated Press that Moo Deng is a symbol of all wild creatures and that she teaches people about the functions of zoos. She advocates for the conservation of all species that are in danger of going extinct.
The pygmy hippopotamus is one of the numerous endangered animals for which the zoo maintains breeding programs. Native to West Africa, the species faces threats from habitat loss and poaching. Only two to three thousand remain in the wild.
