Thousands of excited fans flocked to a Thai zoo on Thursday to celebrate the first birthday of Moo Deng, the adorable baby pygmy hippo that has become a social media sensation. The Khao Kheow Open Zoo was overrun with Moo Deng fans on the first of four days of activities marking the hippo's birthday. Children under 12 years old can enter the zoo, about a two-hour drive from the capital Bangkok, for free throughout the extravaganza.
- Many of Moo Deng's fans flew a long way to see her, the AP reports. Among them was Molly Swindall, who traveled from New York for the celebrations. She was seen handing a tray of food to a zookeeper for Moo Deng's breakfast, which the baby hippo and her mother, Jona, quickly devoured. "I just loved her so much and decided, you know what, I have three or four days off of work," said Swindall, "I can make it work to fly to Thailand. I will only be there for about 30 hours, but that's enough to go see Moo Deng. And that's exactly what I did."