From love chomps to waddling away the hours, these animals from around the world are capturing our attention and our hearts. 💖
You may have seen tons of cat videos on the internet, but what about hippo videos?
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Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo near Bangkok, Thailand, is taking the world by storm with her cute shape, pink cheeks and sassy personality.
Since her debut in July, Moo Deng (which translates to “bouncy pork”) has generated mentions from buildings to sports teams to many memes (of course) and — perhaps most interestingly — her own cryptocurrency.
She’s been making waves with her wide eyes and tendency to bite her zookeeper, Mr. Nundee. It’s more bark (chuff?) than bite. However, her teeth are still coming in, according to Nundee.
There have been both positives and negatives to the hippo’s rise to stardom.
On one hand, she’s bringing attention to an endangered species that doesn’t get the love it needs. There are less than 3,000 pygmy hippos left in the wild, as they’re only native to West Africa.
However, the increased eyes on Moo Deng haven’t always been for the better. According to the Associated Press, some visitors recently began splashing water or throwing things to try to wake the hippo up. The young Moo Deng is only awake for about two hours a day.
Clips of Moo Deng’s mistreatment went viral for all the wrong reasons, and, that kind of behavior hasn’t been repeated, according to the zoo director.
If you want to see Moo Deng for yourself without a trip to Thailand, the zoo has released a 24-hour livestream. You can watch it here but mind the time zone.
While Moo Deng is known for her pint size with a larger-than-life personality, not too far away in Melbourne, Australia, a baby king penguin is making a splash with his impressive size. Coming in at around 46 pounds (21 kilograms), Pesto is larger than the size of a fully-grown adult of his species at only nine months old.
The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium began posting his adorable face for the world to see and says his diet of 25 fish a day is to blame for his size, along with genetics.
According to the aquarium, he won’t stay this way forever. Once he begins to lose his baby feathers in a few months, his size should begin to go down as well.
For now, however, Pesto’s status as a gentle giant is here to stay. On Thursday night, he met pop star Katy Perry, who sang to him and blew bubbles with him.
Pesto also predicted who would win the Australian Football League. He picked the Sydney Swans, unsurprisingly. Comments from users are begging for more updates on Pesto as he continues to grow older.
Our collection of animals wouldn’t be complete without KSAT’s own visiting critter, who’s made itself quite at home just outside our newsroom.
Aubrey, the opossum, has been seen quite a few times by our early morning friends, rummaging through the trash can and presumably trying to find the best leftovers.
Do you have a pet or critter picture you’d like to share with us? We’d love to see them on KSAT Connect. Here’s how to post:
- Open the KSAT Weather Authority app OR visit the KSAT Connect web page. I’d recommend using the app for regular access to KSAT Connect!
- Download the KSAT Weather Authority app for iPhone.
- Download the KSAT Weather Authority app for Android.
- If you’re on the KSAT Weather Authority app, click the camera icon on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. You can also upload from the KSAT News app. See the video at the top of the article for those instructions.
- Sign in or sign up for a free KSAT Insider (member) account by clicking the orange button with the text “Log in to Upload a Pin.”
- Once you’re signed in, you’ll click the orange button that now reads “Upload a Pin.”
- Click the blue button at the top to choose the photo or video you’d like to share.
- Select the appropriate Channel for your content. If there’s a Channel you’d like to see added or changed, let us know below in the comments!
- Select the appropriate Category for your content.
- Tell us about your photo or video by including a description.
- The last step here, click the orange button at the bottom to upload.
