It’s been a few months now since the internet collectively lost its mind over two new celebrities, who were instantly beloved for their funny personalities and unique appearances. What makes these two rising stars stand out? Well, they both happen to be zoo animals. These internet stars are Moo Deng and Pesto. Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, rose to internet fame practically overnight when her caretakers began uploading videos of her going about her daily life to the internet. Pesto, a baby king penguin at the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, went viral for his huge appetite and size – he weighs a whopping 46 pounds, while most adult king penguins only weigh 20 to 30 pounds! These famous animals gained instant virality as the internet kept using them for memes or just expressing adoration.
One post on X, formerly Twitter, aptly said: “Moo Deng the most beautiful girl in the world,” and featured pictures of the hippo hanging out in her enclosure and biting her caretaker’s knee. Another post featuring a video of Pesto waddling behind his mother, who he has already surpassed in size, said, “If Pesto the penguin dies so do I.” The obsession with these animals has grown so great that people have traveled across the world just to see them in person.
Clearly, Moo Deng and Pesto are all the rage, and for good reason – they’re adorable. But this is not the first time that the internet has crowned animals with celebrity status. Other notable animal stars include P’nut the Squirrel, Doug the Pug, Doge and Grumpy Cat. Though culturally iconic, Doge and Grumpy Cat are no longer very relevant. This may simply be because they both passed away in recent years. But it also might be because they are more associated with millennial humor and an earlier era of the internet. Still, there was a time when the internet was just as (if not more) enthralled by Grumpy Cat and Doge as it is with Moo Deng and Pesto. Could it be that the stardom of the beloved pygmy hippo and king penguin is just history repeating itself? Are Moo Deng and Pesto just Gen Z’s take on the trend that is internet animal celebrities?
There’s a reason why we make celebrities out of animals – they’re unproblematic. In an era where we know (or think we know) just about everything about our favorite celebrities, we often find ourselves disappointed to learn that as humans, they are flawed. By fixating on animals, we can avoid the pain that comes with getting overly attached to celebrities who may show their true colors later on. But there can be drama even with animal celebrities. Some of them are being turned into the faces of political causes. P’nut the Squirrel, for example, was turned into a kind of political martyr by various Republicans in the days leading up to the 2024 presidential election. The pet squirrel, who had amassed half a million Instagram followers since his rescue by his owner seven years ago, was euthanized after biting a government official. This official was involved in an investigation of P’Nut’s owners for possession of wildlife, which is generally prohibited in P’Nut’s home state of New York. Following this incident, President-Elect Donald Trump’s official campaign account posted a TikTok saying, “RIP Peanut,” “Needlessly murdered by Democrat bureaucrats in New York” and “We will avenge you on Tuesday at the ballot box.” This last quote accompanied a photoshopped image of P’Nut (or what is supposed to represent his ghost) with his paws resting on Trump’s shoulders.
Random politicization of these animal stars aside, they are also subject to controversy from animal rights advocates. In an Instagram post, PETA wrote that Moo Deng was “born into imprisonment,” is “exploited for profit” and that her life is “restricted to short, stressful public appearances.” The post also mentions that people have reportedly been throwing water and objects at Moo Deng, endangering her safety. While PETA is known for posting somewhat contentious arguments relating to animal rights, this post does raise concerns about the exploitation of animals for human entertainment that are echoed by other voices in the media. In a Reddit post titled “Is anyone else kinda worried about Moo Deng?” one user wrote, “…The unsafe and rough handling of a baby Pygmy hippo in a pretty substandard Thai zoo being meme-ed into something funny and cute really shows just how much groupthink plays into public perception of animal welfare.” Needless to say, the dialogue surrounding our favorite animal celebrities is not all fun and games. This pattern of making celebrities out of animals might be because we grow tired of the ceaseless drama that follows the human stars of Hollywood and social media and look to creatures that epitomize innocence. Unfortunately, there is controversy even within the worlds of these animals – but this drama really traces back to humans who assign political meaning or are exploitative towards these animals. Despite this, it’s likely that the internet will continue to fixate on its animal celebrities in search of some levity amidst a climate of political tensions and disappointment with human celebrities. The question is: which animal will rise to stardom next?