Laughing out loud with Lololi

The sky is gloomy, the forecast is for a month’s worth of rain in three days, but I have a steely determination while on this fleeting trip to Sydney.

Come rain or shine, I am going to Taronga Zoo to see Lololi, the pygmy hippo calf born in January 2024.

I haven’t been to Sydney since before COVID and I haven’t been to Taronga Zoo in at least 25 or more years.

My sudden interest in the zoo can be attributed entirely to my obsession with Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.

Born in July 2024, Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncy pork”, has become a viral sensation.

Barely a few hours pass that I am not served an Instagram reel of Moo Deng facing off with a monkey, pushing a basket, trying to gnaw her keeper’s knee, or trying to get in or out of her mum’s food bowl.

This chaotic baby’s likeness appears on everything from ornaments and cakes to pyjamas and cosmetics.

I buy our Taronga Zoo admission tickets online while outside the gate and save 10 per cent. A quick stop at the gift shop reveals no pygmy hippo merchandise.

En route to finding Lololi – whose name means “there is always love” – we take a detour by the capybaras, another animal that has gone viral on social media.

We spot one capybara reclining at the back of an enclosure next to a children’s playground.

Following guidance circles marked on the ground, a physical map, and a handy app that shows us exactly where each animal is supposed to be and our position in relation to it, we somehow stride past the pygmy hippos and end up at the seals.

This can’t be right. We retrace our steps. We hear other people muttering about not being able to find the pygmy hippos. Then, my daughter points at a building marked “fishing hut”. Is this some sort of secret code?

In we go. And there she is. Not Lololi, but her mum, Kambiri, who is stirring up so much debris as she glides beneath the surface of her pool, it’s hard to see anything through the glass.

Kambiri gets out. She gets back in. No sign of Lololi. Thankfully, there is no crowd, so we have a clear view, and a seat to wait . . . and wait . . .

Time to take a wander to see to the elephants. There’s a sign stating “mud zone, it might get messy” so we take heed when they start throwing mud around, mostly on themselves.

We head back in search of Lololi but there’s still no sign of her. Literally, there is no obvious signage to say this is where to see Lololi, or Kambiri. Just a few generic paragraphs about pygmy hippos.

I notice Kambiri disappearing into a corner out of sight and figure it must lead somewhere. We head out and back around to an out of the way area that looks down on a corner where we spy — mum and baby.

Success at last. Surely this cannot be the only way to see Australia’s only pygmy hippo calf.

On our third lap, I spy a zoo staff member and ask if he knows whether Lololi comes out very often. He kindly jumps on the two-way radio and informs us that Lololi likes to hide.

During this mission, my daughter makes an unauthorised video of me in search of Lololi and posts it on TikTok, hoping it will go viral. What a time to be alive.

We head back to the pygmy hippo exhibit one last time and miraculously a small, dark shape (Lololi is small relative to her mother, but already more than 70kg) moves around my knee level in the water behind the viewing glass. There she is!

Lololi surfaces off to the side of the enclosure. We see the famous pygmy hippo ear twitches. And then we wait, and wait, hoping she will climb out of the water and walk into full view.

But somehow, she slips below the surface and ducks out the side entrance, like all celebrities trying to avoid the paparazzi.

According to Taronga Zoo’s Instagram page, the pygmy hippos have the choice to be inside or outside, which explains why they can be hard to spot.

While Khao Kheow Open Zoo’s Instagram account is almost entirely Moo Deng content, Taronga Zoo, run by the not-for-profit Taronga Conservation Society Australia, is far more restrained.

They have shared a dozen or so photos and videos since Lololi was revealed to the world in March in an Instagram post that attracted 858,000 likes, almost 1000 comments and 121,000 shares.

Taronga Zoo’s posts usually include interesting facts, like their endangered status, and that the “pink” hue that makes them appear so cute is a type of hippo sunscreen to help protect them from UV rays and infections.

Giving up on seeing any more of Lololi, we head back to the capybaras and spy one eating with its back to us.

Along the way, we enjoy some magnificent views of the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and a flock of inflatable flamingos at a boat party.

We watch meerkats get excited when a zoo volunteer walks by, and they think they are about to get fed. We hear lions roar louder than I realised was possible.

Soon, it’s time to board the ferry back to Circular Quay, admiring the sights and views, with plenty of photos, just not many of Lololi.

The different approaches taken by the two zoos to their pygmy hippo calves gives me pause for thought.

The US World Animal Protection website is not a fan of the Thai zoo. TripAdvisor does not offer bookings because it does not meet its animal welfare guidelines. Moo Deng’s life could be about to change, however, with news that Canadian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Vitalik Buterin is donating $10 million Thai baht (around $472,000) to help upgrade her enclosure through the zoo’s Wildlife Sponsorship Program.

Taronga Zoo allowing Lololi to grow up out of the spotlight, swimming or hiding out as she pleases, drip-feeding social media content, is exactly how it should be. Conservation should always come ahead of entertainment.

Now, time to wean myself off Moo Deng content.

fact file

+ Taronga Zoo is open daily from 9.30am to 5pm. It’s easily reached by ferry or car.

+ taronga.org.au

+ instagram.com/tarongazoo