Photographed By Austin Rutland

Photographed by Austin Rutland

Strawberry Chocolate Sheet Cake by Cake Barn

People in my inbox trying to accuse Khao Kheow zoo of abusing Moo Deng and acting like they are experts who can point fingers and say the zoo and Moo Deng’s Thai keeper are unfit to take care of Moo Deng are so silly.

I’m Thai and I live only an hour drive away from the zoo. I used to visit the zoo frequently when I was a kid, and I — as well as any other Thai people — know the zoo does NOT abuse animals. It’s actually the opposite when they rescue and take in injured animals or animals who they rescued from abusive backgrounds.

Please don’t act like you know better than locals, who are familiar with the zoo and how they treat and save animals, just because you saw one TikTok post where a white person with white savior complex said Moo Deng was abused because her caretaker patted her on her butt a little too hard when they played, or because he manhandled her playfully when she, just like any other kids, threw a tantrum and tried to squirm away— even though Moo Deng’s mom, who could literally be seen eating next to Moo Deng when her caretaker “abused” her in those videos, trusts the caretaker to take care and look after Moo Deng for her and are always unbothered by the way Moo Deng is treated. (Because she knows Moo Deng is fine.) Just like how he took care of her other kids, Moo Deng’s older siblings, for the past 8 years.

And did I mention that Moo Deng’s older siblings are literally so clingy that they always demand to be close to their human caretaker? HE MUST’VE BEEN SOOOOO ABUSIVE TO THEM THAT THEY LIKE HIM THIS MUCH 😡

LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS (and gif) OF ONE OF MOO DENG’S OLDER SIBLINGS WITH HER CARETAKER (the same man who takes care of Moo Deng) AND HOW “SCARED” SHE IS / sarcasm

Anyway, this post explains so absolutely well why the baseless claims, about the zoo being abusive, are complete bullshit.

My favorite quote from them: “Please don't trust random (may I add racist?) foreigners on the internet over locals who actually knows what they're talking about.”

As a local who’s familiar with the zoo and has visited the place many, many times, Khao Kheow zoo and the caretaker NEVER abuse Moo Deng or any of their animals. Thank you.

*Please also follow and support the amazing, hardworking caretaker of Moo Deng and her family over at khamoo.andthegang — gif and all photos above credit to him

— peace and love, mod 2

found ANOTHER way more in-dept thread about Khao Kheow zoo to share. once again I'm obligated to put it here

my other post about this

full screenshot here I also posted this reddit thread on my other post linked above

TL;DR: Please don't trust random (may I add racist?) foreigners on the internet over locals who actually knows what they're talking about. thank you 🙇‍♂️

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