Fans of Moo Deng, Chon Buri's famous baby hippo, will have a maximum of five minutes to see her, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo said on Saturday.
Traffic to the zoo located about 35km northeast of Pattaya was backed up for two hours on Saturday morning, as over 12,000 people arrived. In response, zoo staff imposed a five-minute viewing limit, with groups capped at 30 to 50 people at a time to manage the crowds.
The number of visitors to the zoo has been rising on weekdays and weekends.
The weekday average is now between 700 and 800 people a day, while weekend numbers more than doubled to between 6,000 and 7,000 a day.
The zoo is also preparing to launch a 24-hour livestream of Moo Deng, with the feed expected to begin next week.
According to advice posted online, the best time to catch Moo Deng in action is in the morning between 8.30am and 9.30am, when keepers clean her enclosure and feed her.
