Only a month after the adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable both domestically and internationally. Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee of Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years.
Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng walks at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand , Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with water from a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand , Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng sleeps at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand , Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024.
With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun patenting and trademarking “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. “After we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animals’ lives better,” he said.The zoo sits on 800 hectares of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals. It runs breeder programs for many endangered species like Moo Deng’s.
Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or bounce, and Atthapon got a lot of cute and funny moments or her giddy bouncing on social media. Even when she’s not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute — 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.
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.
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