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Her name is Moo-Deng. Look at her. Look at Moo-Deng.


Her name is Moo-Deng. Look at her. Look at Moo-Deng.

Moo-Deng is 2 months old and already has more TikTok followers than you. 2.5 million, to be exact. You could definitely gain that many followers, but you wouldn’t be a cute little pygmy hippo who is constantly wet and always looks like he’s screaming in pictures. At best, you’re just wet and screaming.

Moo-Deng has become a viral sensation simply by its existence. If you want to know why, just take a look at Moo-Deng and you will immediately understand.

Videos from VICE

Moo-Deng, whose name means “springy pork” in Thai, lives at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. She quickly rose to fame thanks to her zookeeper, 31-year-old Atthapon Nundee, who runs the TikTok account with 2.5 million followers featuring clips of some of the zoo’s cutest animals.

“From the moment I saw Moo-Deng born, I set myself the goal of making her famous,” he said.

Moo Deng has dominated the account practically since she was born. She’s grown so big that Sephora Thailand posted Moo Deng-inspired blushes so customers can “wear their blush like a baby hippo.”

Her enormous popularity has led to a huge influx of visitors to the zoo, but also safety concerns. Some – let’s call them assholes and scumbags – who want to see Moo-Deng awake and running around like she does in her videos, have started throwing water and objects at her to wake her up. The zoo has since installed a camera to closely monitor visitors and has assigned a security guard to her enclosure.

Pygmy hippos are native to West Africa and are critically endangered. There are only about 2,000 to 3,000 left in the wild. There aren’t many of them left, and the ones we have left fill our social media feeds with adorable cuteness. Let’s not ruin that by making their lives miserable. When you visit Moo-Deng, be kind.

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