Sawt Falasteen - Hippo birthday: Thai internet sensation Moo Deng turns one

Big crowds are expected at a four-day festival at Khao Kheow Open Zoo where Moo Deng -- meaning "Bouncy Pork" in Thai -- frolicked to stardom and amassed five million social media followers.

The first day of the extravaganza fell on a Thai public holiday with an agenda including a lecture on "Moo Deng's cheekiness", while a skincare beautician paid $3,000 to sponsor her "birthday cake" made of an edible plant arrangement.

A small crowd of fans gathered outside her enclosure on Thursday morning -- fewer than the hordes she commanded at the height of her fame, but still animated with adoration.

Visitor Jennifer Tang took a week off her work in Malaysia to make the pilgrimage, telling AFP she was "a little bit obsessed" with the calf she described as a "chaos rage potato".

"She's really special to me, she makes me happy," she said. Tang insisted Moo Deng is "still really sassy and funny" despite approaching maturity.

"Take a look at the crowd today -- she's still a legend," she told AFP.

- 'Sassy diva' -

Moo Deng has swollen from five kilograms (11 pounds) at birth to 93 kilograms today.

She spent her birthday plodding in her enclosure and submerged in a pond -- a stark contrast to her energetic yet clumsy antics as a pint-sized pachyderm.

"Moo Deng used to be very naughty and jumped around all the time," said Attaphol Nundee, one of her six handlers. "Now, she only eats and sleeps."

"Her popularity has slowed," admitted the 32-year-old. "But some old fans have returned, and there are new ones too."

Despite her waning fame, "her eyes light up when people take photos of her", he said.

Moo Deng took only a few demure bites of her "birthday cake" made of watermelon, corn, dragon fruit and tomato before her mother Joana devoured it almost in its entirety.

"She was kind of hesitant at first with the cake, so I was like, 'Oh my gosh, come on diva!'," said Molly Swindall, a TikTok influencer from the United States.

Hundreds of spectators queued for their allotted five-minute audience with Moo Deng at the Chonburi province zoo, a two-hour drive from Bangkok.

One eager fan took home Moo Deng's bathtub, which was auctioned off for around $3,000 to raise funds for the zoo.

- 'Cute doesn't last long' -

Moo Deng's blubbery rose-blushed face launched a thousand memes and a plethora of merchandise, including piggy banks, party shirts and popsicles -- prompting her owners to trademark her likeness.

At one point, her popularity quadrupled ticket sales for the zoo where she resides in a sparse, stone, five square metre (54 square feet) public enclosure, once livestreamed 24/7.

There were hopes her stardom would spotlight the plight of the endangered pygmy hippo, native to West Africa with only around 2,500 left alive according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

But social media and search engine metrics suggest Moo Deng's popularity peaked around late September before dramatically declining.

"Maybe part of our appreciation of cuteness is knowing that it's something that doesn't last very long," he told AFP.

Moo Deng is part of a pantheon of captive animals who have enjoyed flash-in-the-pan popularity online, including Australia's Pesto the penguin and China's Hua Hua the panda.

Pygmy hippos have a lifespan of between 30 and 50 years.

"Moo Deng won't be the most popular forever," admitted her handler Attaphol. "One day there will be a new generation of Moo Deng."

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST