The zoo defended its care for Moo Deng, arguing the baby hippo receives the best possible care and is part of a conservation programme Thailand has dismissed as outdated, animal rights group Peta's accusations that an internet-famous female baby pygmy hippo "faces a lifetime of confinement" at a local zoo cashing in on the mammal's stardom.

TikTok has given birth to a new generation of mini-celebrities. While most of those celebrities are humans, not all of them are. In fact, one of the platform’s newest (and biggest) stars is a pygmy hippopotamus from Thailand.