Born Free urges public not to visit Moo Deng or other ‘famous’ animals in zoos

Moo Deng and her mother (c) iStock

Animals in zoos have been the subject of popular online content for many years, even the first YouTube video in 2005 was of a visit to a zoo. However, online popularity is often of little benefit to conservation, education or welfare of animals and, in some cases, could even be detrimental. 

Moo Deng (c) iStock

Recent examples of animals that have gone ‘viral’ include Moo Deng, a three-month-old pygmy hippo at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand. While her fame has boosted revenue for the zoo through doubling visitor numbers and the receipt of large donations, her individual welfare may have suffered.

The zoo has had to install CCTV cameras and limit visitor numbers at her enclosure as well as ask visitors to stop throwing objects or making loud noises to goad her. Increased visitor presence is likely to have a negative impact on the welfare of many wild animals in zoos, including pygmy hippos.

Pygmy hippos are endangered but holding individuals as captive exhibits does not directly address the threats they face in the wild.

Another example is Pesto, a young king penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Australia. As a result of his popularity, singer Katy Perry visited him, further garnering media attention. Pesto lives in a small, indoor enclosure with a pool that is only approximately a couple of metres deep, far removed from the vast Antarctic environment he has evolved to live in.

It should be noted that king penguins are not threatened in the wild and are listed as ‘Least Concern’ with an increasing population by the IUCN Red List. There is no good conservation argument for keeping captive king penguins in zoos. While zoos often make generalised claims around ‘education’ to justify the housing of many non-threatened animals, such claims have little scientific basis.

In the UK, Cinnamon, a capybara at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World, gained publicity in September 2024 after escaping from her enclosure. Cinnamon reportedly fled her enclosure after a gate was accidentally left open and she was startled by a tractor mower, highlighting the unnatural and stressful situations and noises that animals in zoos are often exposed to.

Although popular exhibits among visitors, capybaras are also not threatened in the wild and are listed as ‘Least Concern’ with a stable population by the IUCN Red List. Bringing into question any claims that keeping them in zoos thousands of miles away from their natural habitats serves any meaningful conservation purpose.

While social media can be a powerful tool for raising awareness and encouraging pro-environmental behaviours, the popular animal images and videos being circulated sadly do very little to educate viewers about the species’ natural behaviour and environment, or the threats they face in the wild. Some content may even be detrimental to public knowledge and attitudes, especially where the animals are pictured having close contact with people.

Worryingly, when a cute wild animal becomes popular online, this can lead to a desire to own one as a pet, as often expressed in the comments section of social media posts.

All three of these zoos have produced merchandise of the animals, further profiting from their popularity. The amount of merchandise sold, increase in ticket sales, number of views on social media and interest from celebrities significantly benefits the zoo, while the individual animal remains in an unnatural captive environment with little or no chance of being reintroduced into the wild. Whilst attention may move onto the next ‘viral’ attraction, these animals will most likely remain where they are for the rest of their lives, long after their short-term fame fades away.

Rather than visiting a zoo to see a ‘famous’ wild animal, Born Free encourages anyone who is interested in these animals to learn about and support the conservation of their habitats in the wild and advocate for improving individual captive animal welfare, so that one day there will be no more wild animals kept in zoos.

Find out more about the issues facing animals in zoos and aquaria.