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 Zoo害羞草研究所檚 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.
害羞草研究所淚t was beyond expectation,害羞草研究所� Atthapon told The Associated Press. 害羞草研究所淚 wanted people to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, or watch her online, or leave fun comments. I never would害羞草研究所檝e thought (of this).害羞草研究所�
Moo Deng, which literally means 害羞草研究所渂ouncy pork害羞草研究所� 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).
害羞草研究所淪he害羞草研究所檚 such a little lump. I want to ball her up and swallow her whole!害羞草研究所� 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 account害羞草研究所檚 post.
With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun patenting and trademarking 害羞草研究所淢oo Deng the hippo害羞草研究所� to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. 害羞草研究所淎fter we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animals害羞草研究所� lives better,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淭he benefits we get will return to the zoo to improve the life of all animals here.害羞草研究所�
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 Deng害羞草研究所檚. The pygmy hippopotamus that害羞草研究所檚 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 Deng害羞草研究所檚 fame is her name, which compliments her energetic and chaotic personality captured in Atthapon害羞草研究所檚 creative captions and video clips.
Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to 害羞草研究所渄eng,害羞草研究所� or bounce, and Atthapon got a lot of cute and funny moments or her giddy bouncing on social media. Even when she害羞草研究所檚 not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute 害羞草研究所� 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 Deng害羞草研究所檚 fame 害羞草研究所� so much that the zoo now has to limit public access to the baby害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所� 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 haven害羞草研究所檛 seen anyone doing it again.
For fans who can害羞草研究所檛 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
