A man was arrested after being caught trying to climb into the enclosure of Moo Deng, the viral pygmy hippo, zoo officials said.
Khao Kho Open Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi told The Associated Press that the Thai man entered the enclosure on Tuesday evening when the keeper was out and there were no other visitors.
Footage shared widely online shows a man wearing sunglasses, a tank top and shorts approaching Moo Deng and her mother Jonah while holding a tablet that may be recording or taking photos.
Narongwit said he managed to sneak into the enclosure and stay there for several minutes before staff noticed him — while performing caregiving duties — and didn’t try to flee when the zoo called police.
Two-month-old hippo Moo Deng sleeps at the Khao Kho Open Zoo in Thailand’s Chonburi province, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Authorities initially charged the man with trespassing, but the investigation is still ongoing. The zoo confirmed that he was later released on bail.
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Narongwit said the zoo intends to pursue legal action.
Police have not identified the accused.
Moo Deng and Jonah were unharmed, and the man did not try to touch them. The zoo said in a Facebook post that they may have experienced some difficulties, adding that staff are carefully monitoring the young hippo and her mother.
It urged visitors to “strictly follow all rules and instructions from the staff for their safety and that of the wildlife”.
Moo Deng eats fruit-topped cake with her mother, Jonah.
Lauren DeSicca/Getty Images
Moo Deng rose to fame shortly after he was born in 2024, thanks to a zoo that posted photographs and videos of the baby hippo on social media as he passed the day.
Since then, they have attracted crowds from around the world, eager to see the hippo in real life and snap pictures and videos of their cutest moments.
The increase in visitors following Moo Deng’s fame was so significant that the zoo had to limit public access to the cub’s enclosure to five-minute windows throughout the day on weekends.
Moo Deng, literally meaning “jumping pig” in Thai, is a meatball. The name was chosen by fans in a social media poll, and it matches the names of her siblings: Moo Toon (stood pig) and Moo Wan (sweet pig). The zoo also has a common hippo named Kha Moo (pork leg).
Located about 100 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, Khao Kho Open Zoo covers 800 hectares (about 2,000 acres) and is home to more than 2,000 animals.
It runs breeding programs for many endangered species, such as the pygmy hippopotamus, which is endemic to West Africa and threatened by poaching and habitat loss. Only 2,000-3,000 of them remain in the wild.
– with files from the Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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