Moo Deng’s first birthday bash has come and gone. Over four days, 28,890 local and international visitors flooded Khao Kheow Open Zoo to celebrate this basin baby.
They carved her a cake from earth’s bounty. A fruit-and-veggie cake was sculpted for the birthday girl herself.
Then Moo Deng rang in her first year with a birthday shower that gave us a chaotic, wet-floor ballet.
Next came the first-ever official Moo Deng Coin by B.Leila, a collectible currency crafted for the Wildlife Sponsorship Programme.
As the confetti settles, the zoo offers its star resident (and us) the ultimate grand gesture: a rebrand of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo’s Hippo Village. Plans are still under wraps but teaser visuals appeared on the zoo’s Facebook page, causing fans to swoon in the comments:
‘So pretty, just like Moo Deng,’ said one.
‘Hey, Moo Deng, let me know when it’s finished so I can visit often,’ said another.
Post-birthday, her keepers wrapped it up with heartfelt words on Facebook:
‘The event’s wrapped up – thank you to everyone who came to see Moo Deng! And to the international fans who flew in from all over the world. We never thought people would cross oceans just to see a hippo standing in a basin.’
And that’s our girl, closing out her first chapter. This went from a full-blown zoo celebration to an international spectacle, with fans crossing oceans just to watch Moo Deng splash. With year one behind her and a village makeover looming, year two is already shaping up louder, wilder and more splash-worthy.