Why Is Moo Deng So Popular Right Now? Watch This ‘Bouncy Meatball’ Livestream to See

Meet Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippopotamus who’s delighting the world from her home at a Thailand zoo. Every so often, an unusual animal captures the hearts of internet users and becomes a viral star. Remember April the giraffe, who delivered her baby on a live webcam back in 2017? (RIP, sweet mama — April passed in 2021.) Now it’s Moo Deng’s turn to beguile the world.

Here’s what to know about this chubby cutie.

Who is Moo Deng, and how did she go viral?

Moo Deng is a female pygmy hippo born in July at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chon Buri, Thailand. Moo Deng is the seventh baby born at the zoo to her mother, Jona, who is 25 years old, and her father, Tony, who is 24, the Independent reports. Pygmy hippos can live to be 50 but are an endangered species, with only 2,000 to 2,500 adults in existence.

The Times reports that while zookeeper Atthapon Nundee began sharing Moo Deng on social media right away — the attached video has more than 2.6 million views. The zoo held a Facebook poll to name her. 

What does “Moo Deng” mean?

Moo Deng’s popularity really took off when content creator Yammi Saracino translated the naming poll into English and shared it on social media.

Moo Deng, which The New York Times says translates to “bouncy pork,” easily beat out Moo Sap (“minced pork”) and Moo Daeng (“red pork”). The Independent says Moo Deng is a kind of meatball, which is equally great as a name for this little meatball.

Why do people love Moo Deng so much?

Have you seen her? The roly-poly little viral star is just fun to look at. She’s mischievous too; she’s teething so she likes to nip her keeper. She’s also a baby, which leads to fun welcome-to-the-world videos, such as one showing her learning how to walk up a slanted edge of her pool.

You’ll see her in plenty of memes. Just as with the dearly departed Grumpy Cat and other famed internet animals, it’s easy to slap a caption on a photo of Moo Deng that depicts her dealing with life as we do. BuzzFeed even has a Moo Deng AI image generator that puts her into all kinds of situations, such as becoming president or eating a Dole Whip at Disney World.

How can I watch Moo Deng living her best life?

There’s a 24/7 webcam in the hippopotamus section at the zoo where Moo Deng lives. (You may need to scroll down and click on the LIVE STREAMING tab.) Bear in mind time zones; you may check it in the afternoon your time and find out it’s dark and quiet in Thailand, with no animals visible.

If there’s nothing to watch when you tune in, the zoo is also sharing recorded livestreams of Moo Deng on its YouTube channel.

Plus, the Associated Press streamed an hour of Moo Deng cuteness on Sept. 19, and you can watch that on YouTube.

How to watch Pesto the penguin

If you prefer flightless aquatic birds to pygmy hippos, you can follow Pesto the 9-month-old baby king penguin at the Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne, Australia. At 48 pounds, Pesto is bigger than many adult penguins already and eats 25 fish a day to stay that way.

“Pesto is the besto!” the aquarium brags on its webpage.

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