We’re bouncing off the walls for Moo Deng, the feisty baby pygmy hippo star of 2024

It feels like sacrilege to start with a “Happy Monday,” Watchers. It’s getting darker earlier, it’s cold (if you live in the Northern hemisphere), and we’re just starting the work week. Gross. Clearly, we need a counter to the doldrums, so why not talk about 2024’s cutest viral sensation? Who else but Moo Deng, 2024’s sassiest baby, can perk things up here at Cuteness HQ.

Moo Deng was born July 10, 2024, at the (then-struggling) Khao Kheow Open Zoo, a two-hour drive south of Bangkok in Si Racha, Chonburi Province, Thailand. Her name translates to “bouncy pork, referencing a meatball recipe from Thai cuisine, but this little butterball is not for eating. She launched herself into the limelight in September with just a bit of help from her zookeeper, Atthapon Nundee, who started by making videos for fun to highlight playful events from his days spent with the cheeky new hippo.

It’s hard to tell which was the first TikTok video that launched her into viral fame, but she stole our collective hearts from her earliest clips (initially shared on Nundee’s TikTok account). By September, Moo Deng had a worldwide media presence. She has launched millions of memes, highlighting everything from chomping Nundee’s knee to splashing in water sources, enjoying fruit, and (of course) just living her best baby animal life.

Sadly, her internet fame came at a cost; the energetic baby began experiencing harassment from her daily in-person visitors, being splashed or having rocks thrown at her during the nap times necessary for such a lively, growing girl! In response, the zoo installed security cameras, threatened egregious offenders with legal action, and implemented a time limit for the pygmy hippo enclosure. In response to the global demand, the zookeepers set up a 24×7 livestream of Moo Deng’s enclosure so you can experience her sassy antics from anywhere in the world. She also has licensed merch from the zoo and companies willing to pay for her celebrity likeness, which has greatly boosted the zoo’s funding situation.

Animal welfare groups have been involved in these global conversations from the start, raising concerns over Moo Deng’s confinement and the potential cruelty of life in a zoo. However, Moo Deng was born at the zoo, the sixth baby between her two parents, and as we discussed for baby Haggis, her species is terribly at risk, with an Endangered classification on the IUCN‘s Threatened Species (or Red) list. Habitat destruction and hunting have whittled the wild population found in the forests and swamps of West Africa down to an estimated 2000-2500.

If you, too, wish to enjoy Moo Deng’s daily adventures, check out her livestream on the Zoodio YouTube channel or through the Zoodio direct URL. Otherwise, you can follow her and the other animals of Khao Kheow Open Zoo on its social media sites: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a blush tutorial to watch so I, too, can sport Moo Deng’s youthful, peachy glow.