Who is Moo Deng and Why Are We So Obsessed With Her?

In recent weeks, the internet has become obsessed with two animals: Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo from Thailand, and Pesto, the giant emperor penguin chick from Melbourne’s Sea Life Aquarium.

The interest has sparked hordes of visitors, thousands of memes, celebrity endorsements, and even patent applications.

So, what makes an animal go viral? And what are some of the unintended repercussions for the cute specimen in question? On today’s episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by Dr Kyle Moore from Swinburne University to find out.

Moo Deng is a  baby, pygmy hippopotamus causing a fan frenzy in Thailand, going viral online and attracting queues at a zoo near the city of Pattaya. Moo roughly translates to “bouncy pig”. Visitor numbers have doubled since her birth in July, according to the zoo.

Dr. Moore says it’s unsurprising that people are reacting so strongly to her.

“Our feeds are like heavily kind of commodified. think we’re at a point where we can kind of sniff out things that feel inauthentic. And I feel like animals just have a, like us as humans respond to animals is just an inherently authentic thing.”

And overall, it’s not a bad thing.

“For the most part, most people just interact with them online, and most get a sense of joy from them. And I do think there is an ability to use these to have bigger discussions about animal welfare education,” Dr Moore said. 

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