Moo Deng’s zoo enclosure getting an upgrade — thanks to a secretive crypto billionaire’s big donation
Is it hipp-tocurrency?
Moo Deng, the baby hippo who captivated the world this year, now has a billionaire benefactor.
Canadian cryptocurrency mogul Vitalik Buterin donated more than $290,000 to her zoo in Thailand so he could be her “adoptive father,” Viral Press reported.
“I very much look forward to seeing Moo Deng live long and prosper,” Buterin, who co-founded Ethereum, declared in a letter to the director of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, where the 5-month-old pygmy hippo resides.
Buterin made the generous 10,000,000 baht (around $293,000) contribution, facilitated through the zoo’s Wildlife Sponsorship Program, following a visit to Moo Deng’s paddock last month. He was inspired to do so after being impressed by Khao Kheow’s commitment to animal welfare, education and outreach, the Straits Times reported.
The mondo chunk of moula will go toward improving Moo Deng’s enclosure, among other upgrades.
“I was particularly excited to hear your plans for improvements to the zoo itself, especially the proposal for upgrades to the Pygmy Hippopotamus habitat,” Buterin wrote in the letter. “I am delighted to accept your invitation to be Moo Deng’s adoptive father while she grows up and to donate to the Zoo in her name.”
Khao Kheow Open Zoo was moved by the crypto kingpin’s kind gesture.
“We look forward to working with you over the next two years for the benefit of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo community and all our visitors!” zoo reps wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Buterin also billed the contribution as a thank-you gesture to Thailand, which has hosted a series of events organized by the Ethereum community across the past few months, culminating in the hugely successful Devcon Sea conference for blockchain buffs in November.
“What better way to do that (say thank you) than through a Christmas present to someone who is dear to all Thai people, Moo Deng, and who has become one of the most unexpected and important Thai celebrities on the world stage,” the jetsetter declared in the correspondence.
Born on July 20, 2024, Moo Deng — which means “bouncy pig” in Thai — has garnered millions of fans and memes alike on social media due to her cute and charmingly clumsy antics.
Those include gumming her handler with her toothless maw, unsuccessfully attempting to initiate play with her stoic mother, and even doing a makeshift moonwalk like Michael Jackson.
The tubby sensation has caused visitors to flock to the zoo in droves, shooting up from 98,046 in August to 159,743 in September.
Meanwhile, New Yorker Molly Swindall became so enamored with Moo Deng’s antics that she took multiple trips across the world in one month to visit her.
“I am absolutely in love with that shiny, moist potato,” Swindall, 30, previously told The Post.
The pygmy hippopotamus is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small pockets in Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.
It is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.
