Did Cow in Assam Cuddle a Leopard Cub? Here's a Fact as Old Images Go Viral Amid Lockdown
A fact-check, using a reverse search on Google, led to an article of 2014. The story, carried by On Forest was based on another story of TOI dating back to October 25, 2002. The first step of verification revealed that the images were not captured recently - as claimed by some netizens - but around 18 years ago.
Social media users were left in awe on seeing the viral images showing a cow cuddling a leopard cub. The image drew applause, with several pointing out that the cow is a "mother" for children of all species. But how authentic are the images? And how old they are? Fact Check: Leopard Spotted Near Sion Bridge or JVLR in Mumbai? Know Truth About This Viral Video Shared by Raveena Tandon.
A fact-check, using a reverse search on Google, led to an article of 2014. The story, carried by On Forest was based on another story of TOI dating back to October 25, 2002. The first step of verification revealed that the images were not captured recently - as claimed by some netizens - but around 18 years ago.
Misinformation Shared by Twitter Users
'What An Amazing Story', Tweets Ex-J&K CM Omar Abdullah
'Not True'
The section of Twitterati which shared the images also claimed that the cub had lost his mother when he was 20-day old and was fed milk by the cow. Due to this relationship, he returned at various night from the forest to meet the cow and cuddle with her.
This claim was also unverified, as the TOI report of year 2002 does not cite this as the reason behind the bonhomie between the cow and leopard. a forest convertator, quoted in the report, claimed that the wild animal's behaviour may have changed since it was closer to a rural habitat than a wild jungle environment.
To conclude, the images shared by internet users are real. But the context and elaborate stories passed along are false. Readers are recommended to beware of unverified and fake news on social media.
Fact check
Cow in Assam cuddles a leopard cub who had lost his mother when it was 20-day old and was fed milk by the bovine animal.
False. The images shared by internet users are real but date back to 2002. The context and elaborate stories passed along are fake.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2020 10:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).