A female pygmy hippo named “Moo Deng”, which means “bouncy pork” lies on the ground at Khao Kheow Open Zoo. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
An unexpected celebrity has emerged from TikTok’s algorithmic slot-machine—Moo Deng, a 2-month-old pygmy hippo, has racked up millions of views on TikTok, and her cute pictures have inspired a dedicated online fandom.
Moo Deng, whose name translates to “bouncy pork,” dwells in Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, and has become something of an internet phenomenon.
Images of Moo Deng being sprayed with water and seemingly squealing while being lifted up by a zookeeper quickly went viral, attracting likes, shares and comments from enamored social media users.
The zoo’s social media accounts have been boosted by the hippo’s rise to fame, with 50,000 followers on X (Twitter) and over 400,000 on Facebook.
While Moo Deng is hardly the first cute animal to enjoy the adoration of the internet, the pygmy hippo has become startlingly famous, having inspired a huge amount of fan art, memes and merchandise—the zoo claims that weekend visitor numbers have doubled since Moo Deng went viral.
The cosmetics chain Sephora even jumped on the Moo Deng train, posting an ad advising customers to “wear your blush like a baby hippo.”
How Did Moo Deng The Pygmy Hippo Go Viral?
Moo Deng owes her fame to a TikTok account that currently boasts more than 2.5 million followers which regularly posts videos of the hippos and other animals of Khao Kheow Open Zoo.
Moo Deng is said to be an unusually playful hippo, but the secret of her mass appeal is simple—she’s really cute, more like a Pokemon than a real creature.
Moo Deng’s small, shiny body, adorned with rolls of baby fat, and big, expressive face make her a perfect subject for artists looking to draw an adorable animal.
There may be another factor at play behind Moo Deng’s rise to fame, as her content is said to be something of a “timeline cleanser,” wiping away much of the toxicity from social media timelines.
Engagement with Moo Deng often results in an algorithmic reset, peeling away some of the chronic backlashes, outrages and controversies that define the current online landscape.
There’s a lot of darkness in the world right now, and retreating into cutesy animal pictures offers a soothing balm, a much-needed hit of dopamine.
However, internet fame also has its downsides; singer Chappell Roan has spoken out against the entitlement of obsessive fans who are constantly crossing boundaries and invading her personal life, inspiring other celebrities to do the same.
Unfortunately, Moo Deng has also experienced the perils of obsessive fandom, with some visitors reportedly becoming rowdy, even throwing food at the baby hippo to get her attention; one video shows a visitor pouring water over a sleeping Moo Deng, sparking widespread backlash on social media.
Narongwit Chodchoi, the director of Khao Kheow Open Zoo, has urged visitors to behave themselves, and assured concerned fans that the zoo has installed surveillance cameras around Moo Deng’s enclosure.
Pygmy hippos are an endangered species (fewer than 3,000 are left in the wild) and conservationists hope that Moo Deng’s viral moment will inspire the public to learn more about pygmy hippos.