Celebrity baby hippo’s natural habitat has disappeared – here’s why

At conscionable 3 months old, pygmy hippo Moo Deng has go a sensation online for her melodramatic antics and sleepy demeanor.

Moo-Deng has been dubbed an ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ by Time Magazine, and has already amassed 2.5 cardinal followers connected her TikTok account.

She lives successful Khao Kheow Open Zoo successful Chonburi, Thailand – and her sanction means ‘bouncy pork’.

But Moo Deng is fortunate to unrecorded successful the unfastened zoo successful Thailand, arsenic different pygmy hippos’ earthy habitats are rapidly disappearing.

Moo Deng is simply a pygmy hippo, an endangered taxon with lone 2,500 estimated to beryllium near successful the wild.

They’re autochthonal to West Africa, wherever they similar to unrecorded heavy successful forests, wherever they forage astatine nighttime and fell successful h2o and dense vegetation, the Conversation reported.

But wide deforestation has disrupted the cute hippo’s habitat, with West African forests losing implicit 80% of their archetypal area.

Cocoa accumulation is simply a large origin of the nonaccomplishment of these forests – but unsustainable logging is besides a factor.

Most of the remaining pygmy hippos unrecorded successful Gola National Forest successful Sierra Leone and Sapo National Park successful Liberia.

These forests are affluent successful herbs and fruits, making it a cleanable spot for bare pygmy hippos – similar Moo Deng’s mum, Jonah, who’s ever munching connected nutrient – to live.

West African forests are besides location to 900 vertebrate taxon and 400 mammals, which marque up much than 25% of each mammals successful Africa.

Luckily, Moo Deng and her household are harmless successful Thailand – but her taxon remains threatened.

The adorable hippo has siblings besides named aft pork – Moo Wan, which means Thai saccharine pork; Pha Lor, which means pork belly stew; and Moo Tun, which means stewed pork.

But fame is not without its downsides. Some visitors astatine the zoo began throwing h2o and seashells astatine the sleepy pygmy hippo erstwhile she was sleeping successful bid to get photos, meaning Moo Deng present has her ain information guard.

Moo Deng’s keeper said successful September: ‘I anticipation that the cuteness of Moo-Deng volition rise consciousness for radical to travel and larn astir the species.’

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