Man arrested for breaking into pygmy hippo Moo Deng’s enclosure at Thai zoo

A man has been arrested after he was apprehended trying to climb into the enclosure of viral pygmy hippo Moo Deng, zoo officials say.

The Thai man allegedly entered the enclosure on Tuesday evening while a keeper was away and no other visitors were around, Khao Kheow Open Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoy told The Associated Press.

Footage widely shared online shows a man wearing sunglasses, a tank top and shorts approaching Moo Deng and her mother, Jona, while holding a tablet, which appears to be recording or taking photos.

The man took advantage of evening hours — when staff were performing care duties — to sneak into the enclosure and stayed there for several minutes before staff noticed him, Narongwit said, and did not attempt to flee when the zoo called the police.

Authorities initially charged the man with trespassing, but an investigation is still ongoing. He has since been released on bail, the zoo confirmed.

Narongwit said the zoo intends to pursue legal action.

The suspect has not been identified by police.

Moo Deng and Jona were unharmed, and the man did not attempt to touch them. They may have experienced some distress, the zoo said in a Facebook post, adding that staff have been carefully monitoring the young hippo and her mother.

It also urged visitors to “strictly follow all rules and instructions from staff for the safety of both themselves and the wildlife.”

Moo Deng shot to fame soon after she was born in 2024, thanks to a zookeeper who posted photographs and videos of the baby hippo on social media as she went about her day.

Since then, she has attracted crowds from across the globe, keen to catch a glimpse of the hippo in real life and to snap pictures and videos of her cutest moments.

The spike in visitors since Moo Deng’s fame has been so significant that the zoo had to limit public access to the baby’s enclosure to five-minute windows throughout the day during weekends.

Moo deng, which literally means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is a type of meatball. The name was chosen by fans in a social media poll, and it matches her siblings’ names: Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). There is also a common hippo at the zoo named Kha Moo (stewed pork leg).

The Khao Kheow Open Zoo, about 100 kilometres southeast of Bangkok, spans 800 hectares (almost 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 native to West Africa and threatened by poaching and habitat loss. There are only 2,000-3,000 of them left in the wild.

— With files from The Associated Press