Only a month after adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable both domestically and internationally.
Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years. He never imagined Khao Kheow Open Zoosa国际传媒檚 newborn pygmy hippo would become an internet megastar within weeks.
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 , was packed almost immediately, with people cooing and cheering every time the pink-cheeked baby animal made skittish movements.
sa国际传媒淚t was beyond expectation,sa国际传媒� Atthapon told The Associated Press. sa国际传媒淚 wanted people to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, or watch her online, or leave fun comments. I never wouldsa国际传媒檝e thought (of this).sa国际传媒�
Moo Deng, which literally means sa国际传媒渂ouncy porksa国际传媒� 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).
sa国际传媒淪hesa国际传媒檚 such a little lump. I want to ball her up and swallow her whole!sa国际传媒� said Moo Deng fan Areeya Sripanya while visiting the zoo Thursday.
Already, Moo Deng has been made into memes. Artists are drawing cartoons based on her. Social media platform in its official accountsa国际传媒檚 post.
With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun patenting and trademarking sa国际传媒淢oo Deng the hipposa国际传媒� to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. sa国际传媒淎fter we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animalssa国际传媒� lives better,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淭he benefits we get will return to the zoo to improve the life of all animals here.sa国际传媒�
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 Dengsa国际传媒檚. The pygmy hippopotamus thatsa国际传媒檚 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.
Narongwit believes a factor of Moo Dengsa国际传媒檚 fame is her name, which compliments her energetic and chaotic personality captured in Atthaponsa国际传媒檚 creative captions and video clips.
Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to sa国际传媒渄eng,sa国际传媒� or bounce, and Atthapon got a lot of cute and funny moments or her giddy bouncing on social media. Even when shesa国际传媒檚 not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute sa国际传媒� 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 Dengsa国际传媒檚 fame sa国际传媒� so much that the zoo now has to limit public access to the babysa国际传媒檚 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 hostile 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 sa国际传媒� 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 havensa国际传媒檛 seen anyone doing it again.
For fans who cansa国际传媒檛 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.
Jintamas Saksornchai, The Associated Press
