Overview

• The Khao Kheow Open Zoo launched a four-day birthday festival on July 10 featuring a tropical fruit platter fashioned as a cake, photo exhibitions, mascot parades and free entry for children under 12.
• A skincare sponsor contributed 100,000 baht for Moo Deng’s fruit-festooned cake while auctions of her used bathtub and footprint casts generated over 770,000 baht.
• All proceeds from memorabilia auctions and cake sponsorship are being donated to the zoo’s wildlife conservation fund, which supports pygmy hippo breeding and protection programmes.
• By Thursday afternoon, approximately 12,000 visitors had turned up, demonstrating sustained public enthusiasm despite a tapering of Moo Deng’s initial social media boom.
• Now weighing about 93 kilograms, the once-sprightly calf has matured into a more laid-back juvenile, spending her birthday lumbering through her enclosure and napping.