Yeah, we’re back. Amidst all the outrageous dissections under our recurring ELLECyclopedia series, our 600-word dissertation on Moo Deng attached herewith might just be our favourite. She’s Barbie, you’re just Ken. You wish that was you, huh? She’s all that. Glass skin who? Yeah okay, we’ll stop.
Moo Deng is a baby pygmy hippopotamus who has just recently started gaining widespread recognition, courtesy her viral videos making the rounds on the internet. Shared on social media by Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, she has quickly become an internet sensation all thanks to her wet skin (or glass skin, as cultured people prefer calling it) and rather chaotic demeanour.
Moo Waan and Moo Toon are the two siblings of Moo Deng, which literally translates to ‘bouncy pork’ in Thai. I see what y’all did there. They’re so popular that even Thai Sephora shared a tutorial on how to ‘wear your blush like a baby hippo’ on Instagram, because of how deliciously rosy her cheeks are. Talk about capitalising on social media trends. Trust us, we know.
View this post on Instagram
Moo Deng has been pedestaled to the nines (who’s complaining) and is being called an ‘icon’ for always eating, sleeping, or acting dramatic. Ring a bell? Haha. The new ‘It Girl’ has also received support from the Thai Embassy in Tokyo and recently received her own Wikipedia page. Naturally, the memes around Moo Deng are all the rage right now.
I personally took a break from Instagram to take some time off social media (didn’t work, ended up doom-scrolling on X) and that platform too, was replete with cute Moo Deng content. According to Atthapon, who has eight years of experience caring for hippos, sloths, capybaras, and binturongs at that zoo, baby hippos are typically more lively and playful as they grow older, and eventually become calmer. As per him, Moo Deng likes to ‘deng,’ or bounce, appropriately enough, and he has shared several adorable videos of her doing so. Thus, raking in millions of views. An unintentional marketing masterstroke. IIMs could never.
she’s literally just a girl pic.twitter.com/sb7LG7RnRz
— Women Posting W’s (@womenpostingws) September 16, 2024
All of this viral internet fame has caused the zoo’s daily visitor count to increase exponentially, but the two-month-old baby hippo is now being harassed with things thrown at her and is being splashed with water by unruly guests. Director of the zoo, Narongwit Chodchoi threatened to take legal action against anyone harassing Moo Deng in a recent statement and there has also been strong condemnation of the visitors’ mistreatment of Moo Deng online. To counter the large number of visitors, the zoo has instituted a five-minute time limit for guests who have especially come to see the cutie.
View this post on Instagram
By copyrighting and trademarking ‘Moo Deng The Hippo,’ the zoo seeks to prevent others from commercialising her image. They also intend to use the additional revenue to help support breeding initiatives for threatened species and to enhance the lives of the numerous animals in their care. The Zoological Society of London estimates that the number of pygmy hippos in the wild is only 2,000–3,000. Most people have more followers on the ‘gram these days, you know.
So turning all of this fame into something beneficial for the animals sounds like a fabulous idea to me. Keep sharing the memes, I personally love it. Especially now that it’s being turned into a good cause!
