Hippo birthday! Thousands celebrate Moo Deng's 1st birthday at a Thai zoo

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

- Associated Press

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 travelled 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.

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.