Chonburi, Thailand – The feeling of the grouped internet, Moo Deng, had 1st Thursday and, like a real icon, it remains without constraint, hydrated and happy on its way.
Generously ignored by the fact that it was his big day, the pygmy hippopotamus which launched a thousand memes wandered around its enclosure at the Khao Kheow zoo in Thailand, made a few naps and snack on watermelon and vegetables, before it was watered for a shower.
Moo Deng, who will have four days of celebrations, including a 44-pound cake, was imperturbable by his celebrity status and the fact that some, like “Mooniac” Molly Swindall, described themselves self-written, had stolen from New York to celebrate.
“It is an icon and everyone in the world likes it,” said Swindall, 24, who had the privilege of preparing a birthday breakfast for the hungry hippopotamus. “It’s fun to see that she is her same old me,” she added. “Fame did not change it.”
“I love Moo Deng so much,” said Swindall, who was on the third trip to Thailand to see his favorite animal. “I think she brought people so much joy when there was a lot of tenacity and that there are still a lot of difficult things in the world.”
She added that she had grown up to love Thailand during her trips to the Southeast Asian nation. “They are so kind and happy and they are very proud of their country, as they should,” she said.
On -board Thea Chavez also stole from Houston for the big day. “Happy birthday, Moo Deng. Thank you very much for all the happiness you have given to everyone and many other happy years and a long life to come, ”she said.
She was joined by the Thai fan Rathapat Sripisit, who said in an interview on Wednesday that she planned to stay in a nearby tent so that she could have an overview of Moo Deng for her birthday.
“I want to come and celebrate,” she said, adding that she liked the fact that attention had been drawn to the zoo because of the slippery creature whose name means “bouncing pork” or “pork pancake”.
“I am happy to see many people, families and visitors from many countries come to visit us and visit him,” said Sripisit.
Moo Deng was appointed vote by more than 20,000 children and tourists on the Facebook page of the Zoo in Chonburi, a city in eastern Thailand. She quickly became an internet sensation after her guards started downloading videos from her, going through her day.
Like any human celebrity, Moo Deng has dozens of pages of fans on social networks with photos and videos capturing it every moment in public. Videos published on Tiktok and other social media sites have collected tens of millions of views. It is so popular that her image has been recorded as a brand in Thailand.
There is also a whole range of goods, from toy clothes to plush to his own cryptocurrency.
Attendance has quadrupled because of it, according to Narongwit Chodchoy, the director of the zoo.
Moo Deng has also reinforced the awareness of pygmied hippopotams, an endangered species which are smaller cousins of hippopotamus and from West Africa. It is estimated that 2,000 remain in the wild, according to the Pygmy Hippo foundation.
Fortunately for his fans, Moo Deng will probably have many other birthdays, because pygmé hippopotams can live up to 50 years.
That celebrity fades as it ages and less rebounding is not clear.
For the moment, Moo Deng has fans, his mother and a party in his mind.
Then, probably, sleep.
