Animal Life - Moo Deng

 You may be familiar with Moo Deng - born on July 10th at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, she has been an internet sensation with her playful videos and memeable faces.

She's also a memecoin?  The newest in cryptocurrency.  Someone was somehow able to turn $800 into $7.5 million, and urges others to donate portions to charity.

Such as the Pygmy Hippo Foundation, which works to protect the forests in southeast Liberia.

The animal is listed as endangered, and actually thought to be extinct in Nigeria.

Because they are mainly nocturnal, elusive, and relatively solitary it has been difficult to study them as much as their larger cousins.  They have long been part of West African folklore though.

Their habitat is also shrinking.  Large areas of forest along the Ivory Coast have been destroyed in favor of commercial plantations.  A growing threat is illegal mineral extraction.

The Fauna and Flora International is also supporting Liberia's conservation efforts, whose main goal is to connect all remaining populations of the pygmy hippo.

Breeding programs through zoos such as this, as well as the attention it brings to the animal, certainly helps these efforts moving forward.