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Moo Deng the baby hippo finds fame as a small Thai zoo’s online “bouncy pork” sensation
Chonburi, Thailand — Only a month after Thailand’s adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable both domestically and internationally. Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years. He never imagined Khao Kheow Open Zoo’s newborn pygmy hippo would become an internet megastar within weeks.
Cars started lining up outside the zoo well before it opened Thursday. Visitors traveled from near and far for a chance to see the pudgy, expressive 2-month-old in person at the zoo about 60 miles southeast of Bangkok. The pit where Moo Deng lives with her mom, Jona, was packed almost immediately, with people cooing and cheering every time the pink-cheeked baby animal made skittish movements.
“It was beyond expectation,” Atthapon told The Associated Press. “I wanted people to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, or watch her online, or leave fun comments. I never would’ve thought (of this).”
Carola Frentzen/picture alliance/Getty
Moo Deng, which literally means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is a type of meatball. The name was chosen by fans via a poll on social media, and it matches her other siblings: Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). There is also a common hippo at the zoo named Kha Moo (stewed pork leg).
“She’s such a little lump. I want to ball her up and swallow her whole!” said Moo Deng fan Areeya Sripanya while visiting the zoo Thursday.
Already, Moo Deng has been made into memes. Artists are drawing cartoons based on her. Social media platform X even featured her in its official account’s post.
With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun patenting and trademarking “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. “After we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animals’ lives better,” he said. “The benefits we get will return to the zoo to improve the life of all animals here.”
The zoo sits on almost 2,000 acres of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals. It runs breeder programs for many endangered species, including Moo Deng’s. The pygmy hippopotamus that’s native to West Africa is threatened by poaching and loss of habitat. There are only 2,000-3,000 of them left in the wild.
Carola Frentzen/picture alliance/Getty
To help fund the initiative, the zoo is making Moo Deng shirts and pants that will be ready for sale at the end of the month, with more merchandise to come.
Narongwit believes a factor of Moo Deng’s fame is her name, which compliments her energetic and chaotic personality, as captured in Atthapon’s creative captions and video clips.
Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or bounce, and Atthapon has posted a lot of cute moments of her bouncing giddily on social media. Even when she’s not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute — squirming as Atthapon tries to wash her, biting him while he was trying to play with her, calmly closing her eyes as he rubs her pinkish cheeks or her chubby belly.
Atthapon, who has worked at the zoo for eight years taking care of hippos, sloths, capybaras and binturongs, said baby hippos are usually more playful and energetic, and they become calmer as they get older.
The zoo has seen a spike in visitors since Moo Deng’s fame — so much that it now has to limit public access to the baby’s enclosure to 5-minute windows during weekends.
Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty
Narongwit said the zoo has been receiving over 4,000 visitors during weekdays, up from around 800 previously, and more than 10,000 during a weekend, up from around 3,000.
But the fame has also brought some hostile visitors to Moo Deng, who only spends about two hours a day awake and ready to play. Some videos showed visitors splashing water or throwing things at the sleeping baby hippo to try to wake her up. The hippo pit now has a sign warning visitors against throwing things at Moo Deng — posted prominently at the front in Thai, English and Chinese.
Narongwit said the zoo would take action under the animal protection law if people mistreat the animal. The zoo director said that since clips emerged online of people treating Moo Deng poorly, drawing a fierce backlash, they haven’t seen anyone engaging in such behavior.
For fans who can’t make the journey or are discouraged after seeing the crowds for Moo Deng, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo set up cameras and plans to start a 24-hour live feed of the baby hippo in the coming week.
Paul Teal, an actor known for his recurring role on the TV series “One Tree Hill,” died on Friday after a battle with cancer, a representative for Teal confirmed to CBS News.
“His remarkable talent, along with his gentle spirit, has left an indelible mark on all of us fortunate enough to have known him,” Susan Tolar Walters of STW Talent Agency said in a statement on Monday. “The loss we feel in our hearts is immeasurable.”
The actor’s fiancée, Emilia Torello, shared a tribute to Teal in a Sunday Instagram post, calling him “the most thoughtful, inspiring, driven, self-disciplined, loving man.”
“Paul, you were my soulmate, my soon-to-be-husband, my rock, and my future. You filled my lungs with laughter, my stomach with butterflies, and my heart with love,” Torello wrote in the emotional post. “You were taken too soon, in a battle that you fought bravely without fail. While a part of me died with you, I promise to fight to find joy in life as hard as you fought to live every single day. The world is lucky to have even had a moment with Paul Teal, and I am the luckiest person in it, because I got to call you mine. I will love you forever.”
Teal, who played Josh in the seventh season of “One Tree Hill,” was also remembered by stars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz.
Bush said she was “incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Paul Teal. We are just starting to watch his OTH episodes on [“Drama Queens” podcast] and he’s such a talent.”
Lenz worked with Teal on “One Tree Hill” and on a musical production of “The Notebook.”
“He was too young to die. Far too young. I’m gutted,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Paul, your time here was like a summer romance for all of us who knew you, especially if only for a season. Bursting, exciting, deeply moving, and unforgettable.”
Teal also appeared in “Outer Banks” and “The Staircase.” He was also part of the cast of “The Hunting Wives,” which is expected to premiere in 2025.
CBS News
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will air on ESPN, ABC starting next season, as part of NBA settlement
“Inside the NBA” will continue, even though games will no longer be airing on TNT at the end of this season.
The popular studio show will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA that was announced on Monday.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
Even though “Inside the NBA” will be on ESPN and ABC, TNT Sports will continue to produce the show. It will air from Atlanta, except when the show goes on the road.
The quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain with the show. Barkley signed an extension with Warner Bros. Discovery in August despite the company losing the NBA.
“‘Inside the NBA’ is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of ‘Inside the NBA’ further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
“Inside the NBA” will handle pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals and the NBA Playoffs. During the regular season, it will be part of opening week coverage, as well as Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, the final week of the season and other marquee events.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
“Inside the NBA” started in 1989, Johnson became the host in 1990 while Smith joined fulltime in 1998. Barkley came aboard in 2000 followed by O’Neal in 2011. The show has garnered 21 Sports Emmy Awards.
ESPN will also continue to produce “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital since 2009.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico), Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
TNT Sports will also begin showing 13 Big 12 football and 15 men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
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