If you havenāt heard of Moo Deng, the tiny, shiny pygmy hippo whoās achieved viral fame in her two months on Earth, allow me to bring you up to speed.
Born in Thailandās Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, the hippoās on-screen career began when zookeeper Atthapon Nundee started sharing her antics online.
Moo Deng is a sentient slippery soap bar of contradictions ā she screams, she flees from a bath, she bites her handlers.
But she also waits placidly for a petting, pretends to chew (even when sheās not old enough to eat solids) and generally looks unspeakably cute.
Sheās just a girl, the internet seems to have agreed. But what does her name actually mean?
Her name means ābouncy porkā
Moo Deng is translated from the Thai ąø«ąø”ąø¹ą¹ąøą¹ąø, which means ābouncy porkā.
Itās a type of springy meatball (very apt), and it was chosen by fans via an online poll.
The name is a sort of culinary Kardashian brand too. Her siblings, Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork) are all named in similar ways.
Thereās even a non-pygmy hippo in the zoo called Kha Moo, which means stewed pork leg.
The zooās director, Narongwit Chodchoi, has shared that the institution is copyrighting Moo Deng the hippoās name.
āAfter we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animalsā lives better,ā he said.
āThe benefits we get will return to the zoo to improve the life of all animals here.ā
The zooās director added that her name is probably one of the secrets behind her viral fame.
Why has Moo Deng gone so viral?
She has expressed almost every human emotion in her limited time on Earth, and itās all been caught on camera.
Some want to live her uncomplicated, expressive life.
And she reminds others that progress is possible ā even if youāre a minute hippo.
āMoo Deng is never dry or calm,ā another viral X writes of her wriggly existence.
And who could resist that combo?