About

Kirby the Baby Elephant refers to a calf or baby elephant named Kirby at the Houston Zoo who went viral on TikTok in late 2024. Compared to other viral animals in 2024, like Moo-Deng and Pesto, Kirby was typically perceived as weirder looking because her eyes were bulged. Her funny optics generated memes and fandom online.

Origin

On December 13th, 2024, the TikTok^[1] account of ABC News shared a clip from a segment on Kirby, a four-week-old Asian elephant at the Houston Zoo in Houston, Texas. Kirby is seen walking around and seemingly staring at the camera with bulged eyes. The video received over 37.2 million plays and 4.1 million likes in three days (shown below).

@abcnewslive
Meet Kirby, the four-week-old baby elephant at the Houston Zoo that is spreading the holiday spirit. Zoo officials say Kirby is spending time bonding with her mom and the rest of the herd.

♬ original sound – ABC News Live

Spread

Videos about Kirby spread on TikTok in the following days. For instance, on December 14th, 2024, TikToker^[2] @pogsyy posted a video in which she was pretending to be Kirby, writing, "That one baby elephant." Over two days, the video received roughly 7 million plays and 832,500 likes in two days (shown below).

@pogsyy #kirby #babyelephant ♬ original sound – ABC News Live

On December 15th, Instagram^[3] user @still_on_a_downward_spiral reposted the abovementioned video, gaining over 20,400 likes in a day.

More videos about Kirby were shared on TikTok, like one meme posted by TikToker^[4] @jaydeeeerb on December 15th, 2024, comparing Kirby to other viral baby animals like Moo-Deng and Pesto, gaining over 684,600 plays and 80,700 likes in a day (shown below).

@jaydeeeerb Kirby has seen more in 4 weeks of life than we will see in 4 lifetimes.. she has seen ever timeline possibility.. she has seen past, present and future simultaneously 😂👁️👄👁️ #kirby #moodeng #pesto #kirbytheelephant #houston #texas #zoo #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Jacob Sutherland

Various Examples

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7448372155714211103

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7448047480589012254

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7448837924965141790

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7447968628491832622

Search Interest

External References

^[1] TikTok – @abcnewslive

^[2] TikTok – @pogsyy

^[3] Instagram – @still_on_a_downward_spiral

^[4] TikTok – @jaydeeeerb

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Kirby the Baby Elephant

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