A POPULAR American skit show has taken aim at a newborn pygmy hippo born in a Scottish zoo.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) joined in on the rivalry between Haggis – who was born last month at Edinburgh Zoo – and Moo Deng, a newborn pygmy hippo from Thailand (pictured below) who recently went viral online.
In a round up of the news on Sunday, SNL presenter Colin Jost said: “A zoo in Scotland is trying to recreate a rivalry online with Thailand’s Moo Deng by introducing Haggis, a newborn pygmy hippo.
“The only problem is Haggis is fugly as hell.”
A screenshot of Edinburgh Zoo’s viral tweet introducing Haggis was shared on the screen, which reads: “Moo Deng? Who deng? Introducing... Haggis”
Moo Deng? Who deng? Introducing… Haggis 🏴 Otto and Gloria have welcomed an ADORABLE pygmy hippo calf! She is doing well, but we’ll be keeping the hippo house closed for the time being so that our expert keepers can keep a close eye on mum and baby at this sensitive time 🦛💛 pic.twitter.com/ceGtARuzyR
— Edinburgh Zoo (@EdinburghZoo) November 4, 2024
Haggis was born at Edinburgh Zoo on October 30 to parents Otto and Gloria.
Keepers said she is doing “really well so far”, but the hippo house will be closed until at least the beginning of December so that keepers can “keep a close eye on mum and baby at this sensitive time”.
Haggis has taken the world by storm, with the tweet announcing her birth raking in more than seven million impressions.
A cryptocurrency named after Haggis has also been created, called $HAGGIS.
Hoofstock team leader at Edinburgh Zoo Jonny Appleyard said Scotland now had its “own Moo Deng”.
The zoo later posted a joking apology “for pitting Haggis and Moo Deng against each other”.
It added: “There is space in this world for two beautiful pygmy hippo divas and we should celebrate them all.
“Sorry to Moo Deng. Let’s work it out on the remix.”
