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14h ago

Pygmy Hippo Moo Deng Marks First Birthday With Four-Day Festival at Thai Zoo

Festival features free entry for children under 12 as organizers leverage her global following to raise funds for endangered pygmy hippos

Baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng eats fruit presented for her first birthday celebration at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Visitors hold a soft toy of hippo Moo Deng as they lin up to watch Moo Deng, which turned one year old, at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A baby pygmy Moo Deng, right, with mother Jona, eats fruit presented for her first birthday celebration at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng eats fruit presented for her first birthday celebration at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Overview

  • The four-day celebration kicked off July 10 with lectures on Moo Deng’s cheekiness, meet-and-greets with celebrities, mascot parades and an auction of her memorabilia.
  • A skincare beautician sponsored Moo Deng’s fruit-festooned birthday cake with a 100,000-baht donation to a wildlife conservation fund.
  • Khao Kheow Open Zoo is granting free admission to all visitors aged 12 and under throughout the festival.
  • Moo Deng’s viral debut in July 2024 helped triple zoo attendance to nearly 600,000 last year and spawned branded merchandise and endorsement deals.
  • Organizers aim to turn her core fan base of around five million—despite a peak in online searches last September—into advocates for the roughly 2,500 remaining pygmy hippos in the wild.