Pygmy hippo named Moo Toon after voting on Facebook
A male pygmy hippopotamus born on October 27 at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi has been named Moo Toon in a decision made by popular votes.
The name Moo Toon secured 25,473 votes against 14,236 for Kaki.
The two names were suggested by its caretakers. Kaki is a Japanese word, which means stewed pig feet while Moo Toon in Thai means braised pork. They gave food-based names for the little guy since he is so cute.
The zoo opened voting for the two names on its Facebook page on November 27, and also offered prizes to winners suggesting the chosen name, selected from a random draw. The first-prize winner gets Bt3,000 while 10 others get free admission to the zoo for a year.
The winner of the first prize is Patchara Lamduan from Kanchanaburi province. The names of others winning free admission can be viewed on Khao Kheow Open Zoo's Facebook page.
Pygmy hippopotamuses are only one-tenth the size of a typical wide-bodied variety and they tend to be shy, avoiding humans who don’t bring them an armload of vegetables and fruit. Moo Toon is the healthy sixth offspring of pygmy-hippo couple Tony and Jonah.
