Fact Check: Viral video showing lions makes a false claim that it is from Hyderabad

After the intervention of Supreme court, Telangana government formed a ministerial panel to address protests over the proposed development of 400 acres of land near the University of Hyderabad Campus. This committee will hold discussions with the HCU executive council, students, civil society groups and other stakeholders with the aim to resolve the controversy surrounding the Knacha Gachibowli land near the university campus.

Kancha Gachibowli is known to be home to over 700 plant species, including thousands of trees and shrubs. It supports 237 bird species, wild animals such as spotted deer, wild boars, Indian star tortoises, monitor lizards, and snakes like Indian rock pythons. Out of these, 8 species are known to be in the scheduled animals list, which are included in the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

But, meanwhile, several videos and images are shared virally on social media, claiming the wild animals are coming into the residential areas in the neighborhood. Some of these are found to be AI-generated, while others are old videos used out of context. One such video showing a herd of lions running on the side of a road during nighttime is in circulation with the claim that the video shows a pride of lions running toward the Erravalli farmhouse and Janwada farmhouse for shelter after being disturbed by the bulldozers.

Here is the archive link of the claim.

Fact Check:

The claim is False. The video is not related to Hyderabad. It was shot at Kovaya village in the Amreli district in Gujarat.

When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video and searched them using Google reverse image search, we found the same video published by few Gujarati media outlets in November 2024.

A Facebook page named Gujarati Kesari shared the same video with the caption in Gujarati “

સિંહના પણ ટોળા હોય!:રાજુલાના કોવાયા નજીક 12 સિંહનું ગ્રુપ રસ્તા પરથી પસાર થતું જોવા મળ્યું #gir #girlion #girsafari #gujarat #girgujarat #today #todayviral #viralvideo” on November 11, 2024. When translated, the post states that “There are herds of lions too!: A group of 12 lions was seen passing by the road near Rajula's Kovaya #gir #girlion #girsafari #gujarat #girgujarat #today #todayviral #viralvideo”

A news report published by Divya Bhaskar.co.in, in Guajarthi also shared the same video.

According to News 18 Gujarati, videos of lions frequently go viral on social media in the Amreli district. Today, another video of lions has gone viral on social media. This video from near Bajrang Petrol Pump on Rajula-Gir Somnath National Highway has gone viral on social media. Around 10 lions were crossing the road and heading towards the forest; the video of this incident has gone viral on social media.

The number of lions in the Amreli district has increased significantly. Lion families live in 11 talukas of Amreli district. Lions are prevalent in Amreli, Junagadh and Gir Somnath, and Bhavnagar districts. Lions are seen mostly in Gir Panthak. At that time, lions went into rural areas and forest areas to hunt at night. At that time, a video of about 10 lions crossing the road was captured by a vehicle driver in his camera. Currently, this video has gone viral on social media. It has come to light that this video is from the Bajrang Petrol Pump near Rajula.

Hence, the viral video showing a pride of Asiatic lions running beside the road is not from Hyderabad or Telangana. It is a video from the Amreli district of Gujarat, where lion sightings are very common, as these animals live in the Gir forests. The claim is False.