Moo Deng, a baby hippo, rose to fame as an internet sensation at a small Thai zoo where he serves “springy pork”

Chonburi, Thailand — Just a month after Thailand’s adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was introduced on Facebook, his fame has become unstoppable both at home and abroad. Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting adorable moments of the animals he cares for about five years. He never imagined that the newborn pygmy hippo at Khao Kheow Open Zoo would become an internet megastar in a matter of weeks.

Cars began lining up outside the zoo well before it opened Thursday. Visitors came from near and far to catch a glimpse of the plump, expressive 2-month-old at the zoo about 60 miles southeast of Bangkok. The pit where Moo Deng lives with his mother, Jona, filled up almost immediately, with people cooing and cheering every time the pink-faced baby made nervous movements.

“It was beyond expectations,” Atthapon told The Associated Press. “I wanted people to get to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, watch her online or leave funny comments. I never would have thought that.”

Moo Deng, which literally means “springy pork” in Thai, is a type of meatball. The name was chosen by fans in a social media poll and fits in with its other siblings: Moo Toon (braised pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). The zoo also has a common hippopotamus named Kha Moo (braised pork leg).

“She’s so tiny. I wish I could roll her up into a ball and swallow her whole!” said fan Moo Deng Areeya Sripanya during a visit to the zoo on Thursday.

Already, Moo Deng has become a meme. Artists are drawing cartoons based on her. Social media platform X even featured her in a post on its official account.

With all this fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun patenting and trademarking the “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent anyone else from commercializing the animal. “After we do that, we will have more income to support activities that will improve the lives of the animals,” he said. “The benefits we receive will go back to the zoo to improve the lives of all the animals here.”

The zoo occupies almost 2,000 acres of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals. It runs breeding programs for several endangered species, including Moo Deng’s. The pygmy hippopotamus, native to West Africa, is threatened by poaching and habitat loss. There are only 2,000 to 3,000 left in the wild.

To fund the initiative, the zoo is making Moo Deng T-shirts and pants that will be ready for sale at the end of the month. More merchandise will follow soon.

Narongwit believes that the reason for Moo Deng’s fame is her name, which complements her energetic and chaotic personality, as captured in Atthapon’s creative captions and video clips.

Ironically, Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or jump, and Atthapon has posted many adorable moments of her jumping up and down on social media. Even when she’s not jumping up and down, the hippo is infinitely cute—she squirms when Atthapon tries to wash her, bites him when he tries to play with her, and calmly closes her eyes when he rubs her rosy cheeks or her plump belly.

Atthapon, who has worked at the zoo for eight years caring for hippos, sloths, capybaras and binturongs, said baby hippos are usually more playful and energetic, and become calmer as they get older.

Since Moo Deng rose to fame, the zoo has seen an increase in visitors – so much so that public entry to the baby enclosure now has to be limited to five-minute slots on weekends.

Narongwit said that on weekdays, the zoo sees more than 4,000 visitors, up from about 800 previously, and on weekends, the zoo sees more than 10,000 visitors, up from about 3,000 previously.

But fame has also brought hostile visitors to Moo Deng, who spends only about two hours a day awake and ready to play. Some videos have shown visitors splashing water or throwing objects at the sleeping hippo to try to wake her up. The hippo pit now has a sign warning visitors not to throw objects at Moo Deng — prominently displayed out front in Thai, English and Chinese.

Narongwit said the zoo would take action under the Animal Protection Act if people mistreat animals. The zoo director said that since clips of people mistreating Moo Deng surfaced online and sparked a backlash, they have not seen anyone behave like that.

For fans who can’t make it or are discouraged by the crowds at Moo Deng, Khao Kheow Open Zoo has cameras ready and plans to begin a 24-hour live stream of the baby hippo’s visit in the coming week.