Celebrity hippo in Thailand turns 1

Thousands of excited fans flocked to a Thai zoo on Thursday to celebrate the first birthday of Moo Deng, the adorable baby pygmy hippo that has become a social media sensation.

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The Khao Kheow Open Zoo was overrun with Moo Deng fans on the first of four days of activities marking the hippo’s birthday. Children under 12-years-old can enter the zoo, about a two-hour drive from the capital Bangkok, for free throughout the extravaganza.

Many of Moo Deng’s fans flew miles to see her.

Among them was Molly Swindall, who traveled from New York for the celebrations. She was seen handing a tray of food to a zoo keeper for Moo Deng’s breakfast, which the baby hippo and her mother Jona quickly devoured.

“I just loved her so much and decided, you know what, I have three or four days off of work,” said Swindall. “I can make it work to fly to Thailand. I will only be there for about 30 hours, but that’s enough to go see Moo Deng. And that’s exactly what I did.”

By Thursday afternoon, the number of visitors reached 12,000, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoy said. Despite the noise of visitors calling out for her attention, Moo Deng appeared peaceful as she took a dip in a pond in her enclosure.