A late September video shot inside months-old Moo Deng’s enclosure within Thailand’s Chonburi zoo showed the feisty female coming at her caretaker, while he was attempting to hose her down. Although tiny, the dense but cute beast managed to push the grown man — while latching onto his leg and refusing to let go.

The zoo defended its care for Moo Deng, arguing the baby hippo receives the best possible care and is part of a conservation programme Thailand has dismissed as outdated, animal rights group Peta's accusations that an internet-famous female baby pygmy hippo "faces a lifetime of confinement" at a local zoo cashing in on the mammal's stardom.