WITH millions of social media fans and packing in visitors at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, two-month-old pygmy hippopotamus “Moo Deng” (bouncy pig) has now triggered a row with Cambodia which claimed that she was born in Cambodia, Sanook.com and Amarin TV said last night (Sep. 16).
This drama started after a Facebook user posted a photo of Moo Deng, who is now world famous, with the Cambodian flag inset at a corner on the ASEAN-Southeast Asia Heritage Club page.
The English-language caption accompanying the photo says, “‘Kra Deng Chruk’, Pygmy Hippopotamus in Cambodia Zoo, Hot Viral in Social media.”
After the post was published lots of Thai netizens rushed in to comment and clarify that cute Moo Deng was born at Khao Kheow Open Zoo which is in Thailand.
She was born on July 10 to mother Jona and father Tony who, before her, had Moo Toon and Moo Warn, both also named after items on a Thai food menu with Moo Deng actually being a common pork dish known for its chewiness.
Native to West Africa, pygmy hippos are smaller cousins of the full-sized hippopotamus. Only about 2,000 pygmy hippos remain in the wild, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, according to the UK-based Pygmy Hippo Foundation, CNN said.
CAPTIONS:
Global star Moo Deng with an image of the Cambodian flag at the corner, above, and this image inset first below.
Further below and Front Page: Moo Deng wowing fans with her cuteness. All photos: Sanook.com
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