Thailand's adorable pygmy hippo Moo Deng has the kind of face that launches a thousand memes

CHONBURI, Thailand (AP) — Only a month after Thailand's adorable baby hippo Moo Deng was unveiled on Facebook, her fame became unstoppable.

Fans unable to make the two-hour drive to Khao Kheow Open Zoo from the Thai capital Bangkok to see her in person can watch her video clips online, or simply scroll through social media to savor meme after meme.

Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee has been posting cute moments of the animals in his care for about five years. He never imagined the zoo's newborn pygmy hippo would become an internet megastar within weeks.

Cars started lining up outside the zoo well before it opened Thursday. Visitors traveled from near and far for a chance to see the pudgy, expressive 2-month-old in person at the zoo about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bangkok. The pit where Moo Deng lives with her mom, Jona, was packed almost immediately, with people cooing and cheering every time the pink-cheeked baby animal made skittish movements.

“It was beyond expectation,” Atthapon told The Associated Press. “I wanted people to know her. I wanted a lot of people to visit her, or watch her online, or leave fun comments. I never would’ve thought (of this).”

Moo Deng, which literally means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is a type of meatball. The name was chosen by fans via a poll on social media, and it matches her other siblings: Moo Toon (stewed pork) and Moo Waan (sweet pork). There is also a common hippo at the zoo named Kha Moo (stewed pork leg).

“She’s such a little lump. I want to ball her up and swallow her whole!” said Moo Deng fan Areeya Sripanya while visiting the zoo Thursday.

Artists have drawn cartoons, cakes and latte art based on her, and social media platform X even featured her in its official account’s post.

Her image adorns memes by German soccer team FC Bayern, American basketball team Phoenix Suns, and American football team Washington Commanders, as well as the New York Mets. Simple photo manipulation puts her in a variety of headgear or human-like situations.

Businesses, too, have utilized her image. Sephora Thailand has a makeup tip — “wear your blush like a baby hippo” — highlighting her pink cheeks, while food delivery app Grab Thailand imagined with photos what kind of meal she could garnish.

With all that fame, zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said they have begun copyrighting and trademarking “Moo Deng the hippo” to prevent the animal from being commercialized by anyone else. "After we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animals’ lives better,” he said.

The zoo sits on 800 hectares (almost 2,000 acres) of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals. It runs breeder programs for many endangered species like Moo Deng's. The pygmy hippopotamus that's native to West Africa is threatened by poaching and loss of habitat. There are only 2,000-3,000 of them left in the wild.

To help fund the initiative, the zoo is making Moo Deng shirts and pants that will be ready for sale at the end of the month, with more merchandise to come.

Narongwit believes a factor of Moo Deng's fame is her name, which compliments her energetic and chaotic personality captured in Atthapon's creative captions and video clips.

Appropriately, Moo Deng likes to “deng,” or bounce, and Atthapon has many moments of her giddy bouncing on social media. Even when she's not bouncing, the hippo is endlessly cute — squirming as Atthapon tries to wash her, biting him while he was trying to play with her, calmly closing her eyes as he rubs her pinkish cheeks or her chubby belly.

Atthapon, who has worked at the zoo for eight years taking care of hippos, sloths, capybaras and binturongs, said baby hippos are usually more playful and energetic, and they become calmer as they get older.

The zoo saw a spike in visitors since Moo Deng’s fame — so much that the zoo now has to limit public access to the baby's enclosure to 5-minute windows throughout the day during weekends.

Narongwit said the zoo has been receiving over 4,000 visitors during a weekday, up from around just 800 people, and more than 10,000 during a weekend, up from around 3,000 people.

But the fame has also brought some aggressive visitors to Moo Deng, who only wakes up ready to play about two hours a day. Some videos showed visitors splashing water or throwing things at the sleeping Moo Deng to try to wake her up. The hippo pit now has a warning sign against throwing things at Moo Deng, posted prominently at the front in Thai, English and Chinese.

Narongwit said the zoo would take action under the animal protection law if people mistreat the animal. But clips emerged of people treating Moo Deng poorly, and the backlash was fierce. The zoo director said that since then, they haven’t seen anyone doing it again.

For fans who can't make the journey or are discouraged after seeing the crowds for Moo Deng, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo set up cameras and plan to start a 24-hour live feed of the baby hippo in the coming week.

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng and her mother Jona are seen at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng jumps at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with water from a zookeeper at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng lays down on the ground at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng lays down on the ground at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng and her mother Jona are seen at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng sleeps at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with water from a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng walks at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry's pregame warmup is always a must-see show at Chase Center long before the main event, and the cheers were extra loud for his latest session now that he's finally healthy and back.

Curry ran out to the floor greeted by a warm ovation and was set to play about 25 minutes against Houston on Sunday night in his return from a two-plus-month absence because of a right knee injury.

Coach Steve Kerr said before the game that it's still unclear how many of the remaining games Curry will play given Golden State has five contests in eight days with a back-to-back the rest of the way — and the expectation is he wouldn't play on consecutive nights.

“We're going to manage it accordingly. The plan for tonight would be shorter bursts and we'll see on the minutes,” Kerr said. “But first game back he's not playing 48 minutes.”

The schedule will be determined by how Curry feels and input from Vice President of Player Health and Performance Rick Celebrini.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka knew Houston would have its hands full with No. 30 back.

“One of the best movers in the game. Four other guys at a time are concentrated on getting shots for him, so that’s not just one guy, and then does a good job in general with all the screens, off-ball actions, and pick-and-rolls,” Udoka said. "It’s a team effort. We need to be locked in on that, and obviously we’ve seen him enough and know some things that have hurt us in the past, and we need to prepare for that with him coming back.”

Curry scrimmaged several times this past week to test his injured right knee, and he said Saturday it was never a consideration to shut it down for the rest of the season. Kerr hoped to have Curry and younger brother Seth finally play together.

Kerr had said Saturday that Curry was expected to play for the first time since Jan. 30 against Detroit, though the Warriors listed him as questionable.

"He’s scheduled to play," Kerr said pregame Sunday.

After Saturday's practice, Curry said dealing with the pain is part of his “new normal” and the offseason will require a significant reset.

The 38-year-old Curry initially expected to be playing right after the All-Star break, but the recovery was prolonged by some difficult moments when he would feel good, push hard then pay for it the following day.

Curry leads the Warriors in scoring with 27.2 points per game and it has been frustrating.

The Warriors (36-41) had lost three straight games overall and were 13-25 this season without Curry — including 9-18 during this stretch with him sidelined by patellofemoral pain syndrome.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Fans watch as Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, foreground, warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos, from left, reacts from the sideline with Quinten Post, Seth Curry, Will Richard and Stephen Curry during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, smiles while shaking hands with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell after an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Injured Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, middle, smiles while talking with Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) and guard Donovan Mitchell after an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)