The Adorable Science Behind Why Moo Deng Is Your Baby Now
Medically reviewed by Charissa Chamorro, PhDMedically reviewed by Charissa Chamorro, PhDThere are a lot of different ways you can spend five minutes. You can listen to a TED Talk, water your houseplants, or you can spend those minutes basking in the adorableness of the internet’s latest obsession: the baby pygmy hippo, Moo Deng. Moo Deng joins the esteemed ranks of internet-famous cute baby animals that include stars like Fiona, a hippopotamus born prematurely at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2017. She’s had an equalizing effect on a divided internet, like a rare beacon of joy that everyone can agree to embrace. But beyond the desire for an algorithm cleanser in these discordant times, there’s another phenomenon behind Moo Deng’s popularity: A psychological concept known as Kindchenschema explains why humans want to hug, squeeze, pet, and generally fawn over baby animals.
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Who is Moo Deng?Moo Deng is a TikTok-famous pygmy hippo who resides at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. Her name has been translated to ‘bouncy pig’ and ‘pork patty.’ @kevinxpizano moo deng is such a mood #moodeng #babyhippo #hippo #thailand #real #relatable #funny #cute #adorable #foryoupage #fyp ♬ original sound - Taylor Quitara After her July 10th birth, photos of Moo Deng flooded the internet, capturing the attention across social media. She’s become an icon because she seems to be either sleepy or annoyed by some minor grievance, her skin always looks wet, and her miniature body is pretty much the exact same shape as a baked potato. She’s become so popular that the zoo where she lives has limited her visitation time to just 5 minutes per person in an effort to keep the wee hippo safe and the crowds moving. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Danielle Peterson (@hollabackcards)
Moo Deng is undeniably meme-able. Photos include the pygmy hippo with her wide mouth open in a yowl, with captions like “My reaction when I see the grocery bill.” With her glossy appearance, chubby cheeks, and her marble black eyes, she embodies all the characteristics of kindchenschema, the cultural phenomenon behind why humans often become so captivated by baby animals, which relates to why people often feel compelled to pink the cheeks of human babies, too.What Is Kindchenschema?According to Dr. Sabine Doebel, Assistant Professor of Psychology at George Mason University and co-author of a 2022 study on kindchenschema, it describes “the set of baby-like features and characteristics of mammals that trigger nurturing responses and that ‘awww’ feeling.” The term was coined by ethnologist Konrad Lorenz in 1943.“It's not just physical appearance, like big eyes and head and small noses (and chubby little limbs, in humans), but also things like how the mammal oves and the sounds that they make,” explains Doebel.
Characteristics of KindchenschemaThese are the qualities according to kindchenschema that illicit a passionate response:Large headHigh, protruding foreheadBig eyes relative to the size of the faceChubby cheeksSmall nose and mouthPlump body and extremities
How Does Kindchenschema Relate to Human Babies? Kindchenschema is also the reason people care for more vulnerable babies and children, ensuring their survival. “This is important because, if we had to decide whether we want to care for our offspring, we might not do it,” says Doebel. “We like to think we care for our children because we love them and they are ours, but we are mammals and we care because we feel the urge to when we look at or hear them.”Basically, if you’ve ever seen a chubby baby foot sticking out of a crib or stroller and felt the urgent need to squeeze it, you understand the appeal of Kindchenschema. Moo Deng is another cherubic example of the effect the concept has on us.Doebel clarifies that of course humans are also capable of caring for those that do not elicit the same response but that regardless, nature has given us this tool as a means of ensuring our survival and the endurance of our genes.“In a way this can be a bit disturbing to some when they reflect on the implications, because it implies that our behavior is very much guided by looks,” says Doebel. When it comes to Moo Deng there is no denying that her cuteness factor is dialed up to 1000—and I would bet that if she moved in with most of us, we’d buy barrels of hay and fill up a kiddie pool with water in a heartbeat if it made her happy.
Key TakeawayUnderstanding our reaction to animals like Moo Deng teaches us something important about ourselves, namely that we are hard-wired to care for animals that appear cute and vulnerable—in humans it’s crucial that we find babies adorable not just because they are nice to look at but so that when their care becomes difficult, we opt to continue loving and raising them, rather than abandoning them.
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