Current:Home > MarketsMoo Deng casts her 'vote' in presidential election. See which 'candidate' she picked. -GrowthInsight
Moo Deng casts her 'vote' in presidential election. See which 'candidate' she picked.
Benjamin Ashford View
Date:2025-04-06 23:03:20
A wet, chubby baby hippopotamus has cast her "vote" in on the U.S. presidential election.
Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippopotamus at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, was presented with two fruit baskets made to look like cakes this week, one with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris' name and the other with Republican candidate Donald Trump's name.
In a video shared by Khao Kheow Open Zoo on X, both cakes are placed in Moo Deng's pen, surrounded by a crowd of eager guests. The video depicts Moo Deng slowly walking up to her fruit basket of choice and before long, she's munching and crunching on the Trump cake.
Moo Deng's mother, on the other hand, chose the fruit bearing Harris' name.
Who is Moo Deng?
Nearly four months old, Moo Deng has taken social media by storm during her short time on earth. Videos and photos of the baby hippo yelling at her zoo keepers, resting in a water bucket and enjoying a bath have garnered millions of views this summer. And Khao Kheow Open Zoo boasts more than 132,000 followers on X.
Born on July 10, Moo Deng's name means "bouncing pig" in Thai. Her mother is Jona, 25, and her father is Tony, 24. She has two siblings, Pork Stew and Sweet Pork. Moo Deng is also the granddaughter of Thailand's oldest hippo, Malee, who is 59 years old, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.
Pygmy hippos, often thought of as the smaller cousin, are about half the size of common hippos, weighting less than one-fourth of a full-sized common hippo, according to the Pygmy Hippo Foundation. Pygmies are native to West Africa and their average life expectancy is 27 years.
In 2016, pygmy hippos were deemed an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A 1993 survey conducted by IUCN found that only about 2,000-3,000 pygmies remained worldwide.
A new pygmy on the block? Meet Haggis.
Moo Deng is no longer the only pygmy hippo looking for social media fame.
On Oct. 30, a female pygmy calf named Haggis was born at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo to parents Otto and Gloria, according to a news release shared by the institution.
“While Thailand’s Moo Deng has become a viral global icon, it is important to remember that pygmy hippos are incredibly rare," Jonny Appleyard, hoofstock team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said in the release. "It is great to have our own little ambassador right here in Edinburgh to connect with our visitors and help raise awareness of the challenges the species face in the wild.”
Appleyard added that Haggis is "doing really well" and her personality is already starting to shine.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
veryGood! (83776)
Related
- Small twin
- 5 people crushed after SUV topples over doing donuts in Colorado Springs, driver charged
- Why Luke Bryan Is Raising One Margarita to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romance
- Takeaways from lawsuits accusing meat giant JBS, others of contributing to Amazon deforestation
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Google to pay $700 million to U.S. states for stifling competition against Android app store
- Excessive costs force Wisconsin regulators to halt work on groundwater standards for PFAS chemicals
- The EU’s naval force says a cargo ship hijacked last week has moved toward the coast of Somalia
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Coal miners lead paleontologists to partial mammoth fossil in North Dakota
Ranking
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas' tops Billboard's Hot 100 for fifth year in a row
- Man who helped bilk woman out of $1.2M is sentenced to prison and ordered to repay the money
- Guy Fieri Says His Kids Won't Inherit His Fortune Unless They Do This
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Man accused of killing 4 university students in Idaho loses bid to have indictment tossed
- Germany protests to Iran after a court ruling implicates Tehran in a plot to attack a synagogue
- Fantasy football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: 16 players to start or sit in Week 16
Recommendation
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
Regulators approve deal to pay for Georgia Power’s new nuclear reactors
Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community hopeful as marriage equality bill is set to be discussed in Parliament
Groups sue over new Texas law that lets police arrest migrants who enter the US illegally
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
Jake Paul is going to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here's the info on his USA Boxing partnership
Jackson’s water rates to increase early next year
A dress worn by Princess Diana breaks an auction record at nearly $1.15 million