Thousands of fans came to a Thai zoo on Thursday to celebrate the first birthday of Moo Deng. This pygmy hippopotamus became a sensation on social media after her birth.
The zoo is allocating four days to celebrate Moo Deng’s first birthday. Children under twelve are allowed in for free during the festivities. By Thursday afternoon (local time), about twelve thousand people had already been to the zoo.
Fans photographed the baby hippo with their cameras or phones and sang birthday songs, while her birthday cake was placed by the pond. The treat was made of fruit and vegetables. There was also a real cake for visitors.
Many of the fans made quite a trip to see Moo Deng. Molly Swindall flew from New York to Thailand. “I love her so much and thought: you know what? I have three or four days off,” she tells news agency AP. “I’ll only be there for thirty hours, but that’s enough time to see Moo Deng.”
Thea Chavez from the US state of Texas had also flown in for the hippo’s birthday. Moo Deng is for her “a lucky pill, energy pill and medicine” in one. For fan Jennifer Tang from Malaysia it was also a special experience. “She makes me happy. When I’m stressed at work, I bring out pictures of Moo Deng.”
Zoo uses popularity to raise money for all animals
In honor of Moo Deng’s birthday, the zoo organized online auctions. Photos, footprints and a feeding bowl were offered to raise money for all the animals in the zoo. There was also a sponsorship campaign for the birthday cake, which cost just over 2,600 euros.
The baby hippo acquired a kind of celebrity status shortly after her birth. Her keeper shared cute photos and videos of Moo Deng on social media. Those messages went viral. The popularity caused the number of visitors to the zoo to increase enormously. In the meantime, that has decreased somewhat.
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