(Images via Instagram / @khaokheow.zoo and Instagram / @sealifemelbourneaquarium)
Staff Writer: Brian Galindo
Email: bgalindo@umassd.edu
The internet has returned to its roots of being a site exclusively for cute animals. Instead of cats and puppies, though, now a tiny hippopotamus and a fat penguin are everyone’s new obsessions.
Moo Deng is a young pygmy hippo from Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Pygmy hippos are ones that are notably small, only reaching about 600 pounds at their heaviest.
Just born this past July, the young cuteness phenom is still a baby, and yet she is doing so much with her time.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo has been actively posting Moo Deng on their social media accounts, most notably their Facebook since she was born. But, her popularity began to skyrocket in September.
And why wouldn’t it? From just being silly, to her aversion to water, to her never leaving her mother’s side, everything she does pulls on the heartstrings.
Besides cuteness, though, Moo Deng is a relatable icon. Images of her with her mouth open wide and a face that makes it look like she’s screaming have been used to create more memes than you can count in all types of situations.
There’s even a meme of Moo Deng in our very own STAR Center (pictured below)!
Unfortunately, with fame as great as Moo Deng’s, there will always be bad actors.
Due to the pygmy hippo’s vast internet acclaim, Khao Kheow Open Zoo has been flooded with more visitors than ever. This would be a good thing were it not for the evils of humanity.
People showed up to her enclosure to harass her, spraying her with water and throwing food and other items at her. This atrocious behavior led the zoo to begin installing security cameras around Moo Deng, with the zoo’s director, Narongwit Chodchoi, condemning these behaviors in a public statement.
Despite the negatives, Moo Deng has also seen some positives to fame.
Her likeness has been used to make merchandise, with the zoo planning to copyright her likeness as a way to raise funds. Her name, which means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is also set to be copyrighted.
Moo Deng’s family includes her parents, Tony and Jonah, and her six siblings, including two full siblings, Nadet and Moo Tun, and four half-siblings, Ko, Kanya, Phalo, and Moo Wan.
Moo Deng isn’t the only animal making waves on the internet, though. So is Pesto, the penguin, and his waves are much heavier.
Pesto is a king penguin from Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia. King penguins are essentially the opposite of pygmy hippos, being a large species of a relatively small animal.
But it’s not just Pesto’s species that’s large. His appetite is ravenous, eating 25 fish a day, which is one of the main contributions to his record-setting status as the heaviest king penguin chick to ever live in the aquarium.
As with Moo Deng, Pesto has been the recipient of many memes, though his are a bit more one note. Most reference his immense size and rather lax demeanor.
Pesto’s general largeness is on greatest display when watching him around the other penguins in his enclosure. Even the ones that should be similar in size to him look like babies.
As of October 3rd, Pesto stands at a very comfortable 23.85 kilograms, or about 53 pounds.
Moo Deng can be watched on a 24/7 live stream on Zoodio Thailand, or you can check out Khao Kheow Open Zoo on Instagram at @khaokheow.zoo!
Pesto may not have an available live stream, but you can keep up with him online over at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium’s Instagram, @sealifemelbourneaquarium!