On a whim, my friend & I flew to Bangkok from Chiang Mai this week to go see Moo Deng, the viral baby pigmy hippo at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Chonburi, Thailand, two hours west of Bangkok. (If you’re interested in visited from Bangkok, check out my guide on how to visit Moo Deng and the best times to visit!)
We spent about an hour watching her interact with her mom, caretaker and battle some mischievous monkeys. Since I shot mostly horizontal, I decided the shoot was worthy of a blog post to showcase the images, especially the mischievous monkey battle! We visited on a weekday at 8 a.m.
Here are my favorite shots from my visit with Moo Deng:
At 8 a.m. she was sleeping in the far corner in this image on the left. She started to walk around because her enclosure was bustling. Her mother was eating and her caretaker was cleaning. Right: She’s donning her famous leaf fashion statement.
She was very active and playful with her caretaker. It was really cute to watch them interact. She went over to him as he was sweeping and started being silly chasing the basket. She really doesn’t like that basket.
This is the far back corner where she was sleeping when we arrived. She walked over to the corner a few times and laid down but got back up pretty quickly to walk around and eat.
As Moo Deng and her mom, Jona, were eating, the caretaker was splashing them with water and hosing them down, which they both loved.
All of these images were shot with a Sony a7r V and a 70-200 f/2.8 lens. A teleconverter would have been helpful for tighter shots. I used a polarizing filter to help with some of the glare, but it was still very bright light.
A freshly mosturized Moo Deng at her food bowl
Posing for Instagram shots for her loyal fans!
Moo Deng gets playful feisty for the camera with her caretaker.
Moo Deng loved getting a rub down and back scratch.
Moo Deng is a total poser when it comes to photos. It was so sweet watching these two interact. She didn’t mind having her head in his hand.
Moo Deng Battles the Monkey Mafia
While Jona and Moo Deng were eating, these monkeys were watching from the sides of the enclosure. They tried to climb down a tree at one point but were scared off. This one got brazen and came in for a snack. He totally turned to pose for me out of defiance!
Jona was unphased by the monkeys, but Moo Deng had some words with them. She was not a happy hippo.
Moo Deng chased the monkey off but then, he comes back!
The monkey comes back with a friend. Moo Deng is fierce standing her ground with her “Don’t mess with me!” face.
The battle gets intense, and the monkey dares to strike Moo Deng! (This poor monkey better not have a Instagram account or he’s about to get hate from Moo Deng’s fans!)
The monkeys don’t give up easily! Back again!
Moo Deng is DONE playing Miss Nice Hippo. She tells them who’s boss!
Moo Deng teaches them a lesson, and they move along.
Fighting monkeys is exhasuting. Time to rest beside mom before they go nap together.
Sleepy Moo Deng
Jona and Moo Deng go off to the back corner to sleep around 9 a.m. They were still sleeping in the same place the rest of the morning and when we left around noon. Of course, both of their butts were facing the people so no one could get photos of their faces. I definitely recommend arriving early at 8 a.m or in the late afternoon for photos. The best photo angles of Moo Deng’s enclosure are from the elevated edges.
