Fact Check: Video showing spotting of tiger makes a false claim to be from Telangana
India’s tiger population over the years has been on a steady rise despite several challenges. But the record number
Tiger spotted
India’s tiger population over the years has been on a steady rise despite several challenges. But the record number of tiger deaths in the year 2023 has alarmed the officials and reminded us all for the continued efforts for conservation of tigers.
Recently, a few videos of leopards and tigers have been in circulation on social media with misleading claims that they have been spotted in various different places in the country. One such video of a tiger roaming in a rocky forest area is going viral on the social media platforms with the claim that a tiger has been spotted in Khanapur area in Nirmal district, triggering panic among the local people. The video clip went viral on all social media platforms including WhatsApp.
Here is the caption in Telugu “నిర్మల్ జిల్లా ఖానాపూర్ మండలం
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The video is not from Telangana.
When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video and searched it using Google reverse image search, we found several videos published on social media platforms of Kannada TV channels stating that the tiger was spotted in Himavad Gopalaswamy betta in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. Here are News18 Kannada, TV9 Kannada reports.
A report in Public TV reported that that a tiger was spotted by the tourists in Himavad Gopalaswamy Hill in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Gundlupet Taluk of Chamarajanagar District.
When we contacted the forest officials of Telangana, Telangana Chief wildlife warden Elusing Meru confirmed that the video is not from Telangana. Upon further search, we also found a report in Telangana Today stating that the 21-second long video of the tiger roaming in the forest area is not Telangana. Nirmal in-charge District Forest Officer SA Nagini Banu stated that the clip might have been shot in the northern states of India but not Telangana. She advised users to verify facts with the officials before sharing photographs and video clip of wildlife.
Basing on some news reports published which stated that the video is from Karnataka, we have reached out to the officials in Chamarajanagar district to confirm the location of the video. We will update the article, once we get the confirmation.
Hence, the viral video of tiger roaming in the rocky region of forest area is not related to Nirmal district, Telangana. Forest officials confirmed that the video was not shot in Khanapur. The claim is False.