Why are bouncy pork and pesto ruling the internet at the moment? Because they’re adorable!
Don’t worry, it’s not a riddle you need to figure out, like a culinary version of the raven and the writing desk, just baby animals of extreme viral cuteness.
Meet Moo Deng, aka Bouncy Pork, the most adorable baby pygmy hippo from Thailand:
She is stealing hearts, and inspiring everything from art, to make-up looks and coffee designs. The baby shares her name with a type of Thai char siu dish, which has sky-rocketed in popularity since she graced us with her presence in July. Many content creators are even starting their videos “Is there even a point putting anything out there at the moment, it’s Moo Deng’s internet now!“.
All this queen does is scream, bite and nap, which is such a mood. Only when I do it it’s “concerning”, not adorable. I see how it is. Moo Deng currently lives at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, and her handlers have launched a 24-hour livestream of the pygmy hippo enclosure, in case you want to get your fix of her.
On the other side of the temperament spectrum, is our chill king Pesto the Penguin. He lives in Australia, and is the biggest king penguin ever bred in captivity.
He’s affectionally called a chonk, absolute unit and Oh Lawd, He Coming because at 9 months old, he weighs 50 pounds (almost 23 kilos), which is more than both his parents combined. (Again, I see how the double standard goes! I weighed more than my mom at 16, and no one thought it was great.)
His carers at the Sea Life Melbourne aquarium organized him the cutest gender reveal party and, as you can see from the clip, keep him well supplied in fish (25 per day!). They also let us know that Pesto will likely lose a lot of the chick weight once he molts and grows his permanent feathers, but will continue to tower over all the other penguins in the enclosure, just like his father.
Finally, we got many messages to let us know that there are around 30 spares of the Blood Heir and Iron and Magic special box in the Arcane Society store. These are the signed exclusive hardcover editions, with interior art, foil detail, and dust jacked by our favorite Luisa Preissler. If you missed out, now’s your time!
Mimi says
Conlon needs a baby pigmy hippo!
Tais S says
He would probably want a huge prehistoric hippo 😂😂 Why settle for a small one, he *is* Curran’s son after all hahaha
Patricia Schlorke says
I noticed that Moo Deng’s mommy hovers over her when the handlers want to get her mouth to open. Don’t mess with the baby when mom is right there. She is so popular that the zoo is only allowing a 5 minute limit before people have to move on to other attractions. She is adorable!
To all the U.S. Southeast Horde members, please, please be careful with Helene coming your way. At least it’s not hurricane Semiramis about to hit Florida and go over the Atlanta area. 😉
Patricia Schlorke says
I just bought one of the extras of Blood Heir and Iron and Magic. I honestly thought it would be more than what I paid. 😊😎
JoAnne K says
Having worked with penguins, he should loose quite a bit when he molts plus gets weaned and has to feed himself. Those fluffy feathers are not waterproof but to keep him warm. He will molt those to normal feathers when he is old enough to go in the water. They have a gland at the base of their tail that they preen with that coats the feathers to make them waterproof.
April says
I bought my Arcane Society edition back in the Spring as a birthday gift to myself.
But, I also grabbed one of the extra copies. It will be a great Christmas gift for my SIL.
Shayera says
24 hour webcam!?!?! My day will be split between bouncy pork and Alaskan bear cam. No work will be completed. Oh well.
Tink says
For additional cuteness and comedy, you can see some of the contestants for the 2024 Comedy Wildlife Photograph Awards at
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/travel/comedy-wildlife-photography-2024-scli-intl/index.html
There’s a Peoples Choice Awards category that you can vote on, too.
Gaëlle from France says
Some visitors throw things at Moo Deng for making her move when she’s sleeping. Just to make her react. A sleeping baby hippo is not enough interesting for a video, you see… She doesn’t have a moment of peace…
Colleen C. says
This reminds of the Fiona the hippo excitement. I love them both.
nedibes says
Mod R, I am giggle snorting at your double-standards comments! So very true.
Moo Deng is adorable, but does anyone else find the food name slightly disturbing? I can’t help but think of the Beverly Hillbillies episode where Granny found a hippo and thought it was a giant hog…
(not sure if this will post, but here’s the image that haunts me: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNzA4YzE0YmItYjZmYy00NmYxLWI5MzktZGQwZTFkYjAxMTlmXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg)
cocoakitten says
I hear you, but it’s a cultural thing ;D
In Thailand, you don’t call/refer to another person with last name — we use first name for general/formal occasions though what we really prefer to use are nicknames as it gives the sense of being casual, friendliness, and even closeness (close friends and family pretty much exclusively call each other by nickname). And when it comes to Thai nicknames, you’ll find all kinds of food words — Moo Deng is definitely not the only one with disturbing (to some) food name. You’ll find Thai people with nickname like:
Moo Wan (sweet braised pork… also the name of another Thai pygmy hippo), Kao Pun (Onigiri — Japanese rice ball), Joke (either taken from Teochew word for congee or the English word ‘joke’ as Thai pronunciation of both words are the same)
Cake (yes, that dessert with or without frosting), Pie, Pancake
Kai (egg), Gai (chicken), Pla (fish), Moo (pig/pork)
…etc. you get the idea 😀 we are equally disturbingly nicknaming ourselves, too.
On a side note, the media reports on the Thai meaning of Moo Deng pretty much sum it up as bouncy/bouncing pig/pork/patty which isn’t exactly correct. Moo Deng is actually a seasoning marinade recipe for pork — could be ground pork or sliced pork, but usually people would think of the ground pork one first. It consists of seasonings (soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper), eggs, and either use baking soda or whipping with ice to get the bouncy texture when cooked. Do a search with “สูตร หมูเด้ง” or “วิธีทำ หมูเด้ง” if you’re interested 😉 This mixture is so popular you can find the pre-made version sold at most supermarkets. And though I’m sure the sale volume of moo deng mixture probably went up, too, it’s another dish that’s actually has most Thai thinking of ordering (delivery service reported 50% increase in search queries) since Moo Deng became famous: ข้าวขาหมู (kao kaa moo) — five-spice braised pork knuckles over rice. Look up the picture of ข้าวขาหมู and you’ll see why (here’s an example: https://www.pitchameat.com/thai-spicy-sauce-for-pork-leg-stew/). Sorry if I’m veering into the disturbing territory again.
Dawn says
OMG! I didn’t have funds to spare when these were released and now I do and thought I wouldn’t have a chance. THANK YOU FOR POSTING!
Also, I needed cute pygmy hippo videos today. I also rail against the system that I can’t just bit things, scream and sleep w\o the drama that ensues LOL.
Keera says
Chunky babies are the cutest!
Mar says
Thank you for the alert. I managed to get one of the Box sets.
SoCoMom says
Awww! I am love updates on our 2 local baby animal celebrities, the giraffe Safiri and Otto, a white rhino.
Chiray says
Ohhh, I want the spares but…shoes or books? My budget only has room for one or the other. Argh, sadly, I think I have to stick with the e-versions because I really need to replace my heeled shoes with barefoot, flexible versions for my health. But have fun shopping to anyone who is snapping up the spares!!