To see the young pygmy hippo–turned–internet sensation Moo Deng (pictured above) in real life, you'd need to travel to Thailand, where the charismatic star resides at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in the east coast province of Chonburi.
According to news reports, New Yorker and Moo Deng superfan Molly Swindall has made the pilgrimage twice in recent weeks, spending thousands of dollars and dozens of hours on planes to visit in person the roly-poly infant known for chomping zookeepers, struggling to climb a gentle slope, and otherwise behaving in highly adorable, highly meme-able fashion in viral videos and in the zoo's around-the-clock livestream.
But U.S. travelers don't have to go all the way to Thailand to spot pygmy hippos in the (chubby, slippery) flesh—or to West Africa, where fewer than 3,000 of the endangered animals are estimated to remain in the wild.
Several U.S. zoos house their own pygmy hippos, which look like pint-size versions of the common (aka Nile or river) hippopotamus, albeit with certain differences.
Strangely enough, most pygmy hippos in the U.S., though nowhere near as famous as Moo Deng, have a celebrity pedigree. In 1927, tire magnate Harvey Firestone gifted a pygmy hippo named Billy to President Calvin Coolidge, who in turn regifted the animal to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. As the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium explains, "Billy is a common ancestor to most pygmy hippos living in American zoos today."
(Pygmy hippos | Credit: jeep2499 / Shutterstock)
Where to See Pygmy Hippos in the U.S.
The Pittsburgh Zoo's Jungle Odyssey area is home to a 2-year-old pygmy hippo named Hadari, described by staff as "rambunctious" and "confident" when he moved in last year.
At the San Diego Zoo, pygmy hippos share the Lost Forest habitat with Wolf's monkeys, who have been known to hop on the hippos' backs to hitch a ride.
Additionally, you'll find Moo Deng lookalikes at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, and the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, where 4-year-old Ptolemy—the first member of his species ever born at the zoo, according to the Boston Globe—lives with his parents, Cleopatra and Inocencio (Ino for short).
There are even pygmy hippos on U.S. soil that could qualify as Moo Deng's contemporaries, give or take a few months.
ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Florida has Ruka, a female calf born in the spring, and Virginia's Metro Richmond Zoo welcomed the "spunky" Petunia in late 2022.
As for D.C.'s National Zoo, it hasn't had pygmy hippos since 2009. Guess you'll have to settle for the newly arrived giant pandas scheduled to make their public debut in January 2025.
