There's a new influencer clogging up our feeds — and she's the short, squat, permanently moist icon the world needs right now.
She's a certified It Girl.
She's the people's princess.
She's Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo from Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo who has claimed the entire internet as her kingdom. For those unawares, 'Moo Deng' actually translates to 'bouncy pork', per the New York Times.
But you already knew that, right? Because approximately the entire world is in love with this chaotic baby, who's made us believe that maybe, just maybe, we… do deserve good things?
Watch Moo Deng being Moo Deng. Post continues below.
Who is Moo Deng, the hippo influencer?
Moo Deng's journey to stardom was no accident. Atthapon Nundee, her zookeeper at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, told The Guardian, "The moment I saw Moo Deng born, I set a goal to make her famous, but I never expected it would spread abroad.
"I thought she could be famous in Thailand but not internationally."
Well, sir, clearly you underestimated the power of rosy cheeks and a damp aesthetic.
Time magazine put it best when they wrote: "She's an icon, she's a legend, and she is the moment."
Moo Deng has become a fast lifestyle icon, with media and beauty companies suggesting people try out 'baby hippo blush', and I'd be lying if I said haven't been picking an extra-peachy shade for my cheeks when doing my makeup lately.
Anything to help me be more Moo Deng.
The little hippo's videos quickly amassed tens of millions of views across various social media platforms, and while plenty of internet trends die out as quickly as they peak, Moo Deng has, in my humble opinion, unending appeal.
And it goes beyond the simple fact that she's a sweet angel.
Sure, you could put it down to her cuteness alone, which is objectively undeniable (I dare you to try to say otherwise). But it's more than that.
One look at that feisty little pachyderm's antics and you feel Pure. Unbridled. Joy. You get a wholesome sense of personal connection to this little animal, who is simply existing; living life the way she would whether she had a 24-hour live feed on her or not (she does).
She'll munch on her zookeepers knees, throw a little tantrum here and there, and delight in her watery home, and honestly, we can't help but relate to her for that.
While her keeper might have very intentionally fast-tracked her influencer status, the little hippo is unabashedly, unapologetically herself.
And which human influencers can honestly say the same?
Even when she's being dishonest, she's perfection:
One of Moo Deng's most endearing (and perhaps defining) moments came when she was filmed chomping away on some grass with her mum, except she… wasn't?? Nope, those sweet little noms were all for show.
"She exclusively consumes milk from her mother and hasn't started on anything else yet," Atthapon told The Guardian.
Yes she was completely faking it.
And while a human influencer might get cancelled for that sort of trickery, it only made us vibe Moo Deng even more.
Iconic.
The uncancellability of Moo Deng.
There's something intrinsically appealing about feeling a connection with someone (yes, she is a someONE) who simply cannot be cancelled.
No-one is ever going to dig up the racist tweets Moo Deng posted back in 2011.
Nobody is going to call Moo Deng out for faking major health issues and then profiting off them.
Moo Deng will never photoshop her images, or get into a TikTok slanging match over soft swinging.
A para-social relationship with a tiny hippo simply doesn't have the potential to, well, blow up in anyone's face.
"People love to talk about para-social relationships with celebrities on the internet, and I do think that with Moo Deng, we have levelled up in our ability to do this — because it's happening with a baby pygmy hippopotamus," the hosts of the We're Obsessed podcast, Lindsay Underwood and Halle Watson, said in a recent episode, where they discussed our new It Girl.
"It was cute when everyone was like, 'I feel like I know John Mulaney in my personal life,' but we are so far past that. Because there's no better way to have a para-social relationship than with something that can't communicate back."
And, hard agree.
Because an obsession with a chaotic, sweet-faced, dramatic yet personally drama-free baby animal on the internet is not just wholesome and joyful — it's safe.
"The reason that we get obsessed with these animals is because we can put all of these feelings of like, 'I am obsessed with this' on the animal and there aren't really any bad repercussions."
It's safe to love Moo Deng, and love her fully. And doesn't that feel like a warm hug?
The animal appeal.
Loving Moo Deng is easy. But it's also not surprising. According to Pauleen Bennett, an associate professor of psychology at La Trobe University, we use animal influencers to feel connected not only to the pygmy hippos of the world, but to each other.
"They're a fun thing to talk about so they get people talking in a safe environment," she told the ABC. "People just like to engage with other people so it's actually about building social connections with other people."
Not to get all science-y about it, but studies have also shown that animal influencers are seen as more credible than humans… and it's because they're cuter that we trust them more (yes, actually).
To be honest though, that kinda tracks. Whatever Moo Deng's selling, I'll be taking 10, thank you very much.
Moo Deng's not the only animal influencer.
Obviously, this tiny hippo isn't the first animal we've collectively fallen head over heels for online. But something hits different about the latest generation of animal influencers.
From Moo Deng and her older sister, Moo Wan, and brother, Moo Toon — whose stars are also on the rise — to Pesto, the nine-month-old baby penguin who currently weighs 23kg (more than both his parents combined), and sweet little Molé the Sloth… We may not deserve animal influencers right now, but gosh we need them.
@kylethomas Some behaviroual enrichment for Molé the two toed sloth! 🦥❤️ he is SO SO SO CUTE!!!! #wildlife #rescue #rehab ♬ original sound - kyle thomas 🦸🏻♂️
Maybe it's the societal sh*t show we're all currently living in making us need these unproblematic little friends more than ever. Maybe we're just sick of the drama that humans can bring (because don't we get enough of that in our own lives without watching it play out on TikTok?).
Maybe we just need something to smile about, without fear of it coming back to bite us in the butt later down the track. As the We're Obsessed hosts put it: "It's okay to be obsessed with Molé the Sloth. It feels safe."
"There is something like comforting about [the fact that Moo Deng] she's just always going to be a sweet little pygmy hippopotamus."
It's true what they say: not all heroes wear capes. Some of them just do fake noms and stay permanently moist.
Alix Nicholson is Mamamia's Senior Weekend Editor. For more, follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
Feature Image: TikTok/bestofmoodeng.
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