A video of three cheetahs attacking an Impala in Kenya is being shared with a false claim that it shows how Namibian cheetahs released recently into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh are attacking a deer.
BOOM found that the claim to be false. The video was shot before the Nambian cheetahs were released at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
Prime Miniter Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on September 17. The cheetahs were flown-in from Namibia under Project Cheetah with an aim to bring back the species to India decades after their local extinction. Several experts mentioned that the step to bring the animals can help to restore the "evolutionary balance".
The Hindi caption with the video translates to, "The deer were released in Kuno Park due to this reason. Cheetahs have created panic in the park and are roaming around for food."
(Original Text in Hindi: कूनो पार्क में हिरणो को इसी लिए छोड़ा गया था चितो ने पार्क मचाया आतंक और खाने के लिए घूम रहे है)
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on one of its keyframes from the viral video and found it on a YouTube channel named 'Lemurt Wildlife Tours' uploaded on August 17, 2022.
The upload date of the video showed us it was shot before the eight Namibian cheetahs were released into Madhya Pradesh on September 17.
The description with the video states, "Kisaru one of the senior matriarch in the Mara ecosystem with her cubs killed an impala". We also found the video was uploaded by their Facebook page on August 17, 2022 from Kenya.
The exact sequence of the viral video can be watched from 20 seconds to 50 seconds timestamp. Below is a comparison between a scene from the viral video and the video uploaded on August 17, 2022 can be seen below.
According to a CGTN report, Kisaru is a female cheetah from the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The images of the cheetah can be seen here.
BOOM also reached out to the channel for further details about the video. John, a representative from the channel, confirmed to us about the video saying, "Yeah I am the one who took the video in maasai mara in Kenya."
We also ran a keyword search related to the release of chitals in Kuno National Park as prey for the Namibian cheetahs to verify the claim. The search led us to a tweet from the Madhya Pradesh Forest department posted on September 21, 2022.
Click here to view the tweet.
The tweet reads, "There are a large number of chitals in the Kuno National Park. There is no need to bring chital here and there from other places or states, nor have they been brought."
The response came amid the protests of the Bishnoi community over reports of a large number of chitals (spotted deer) have been shifted from Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park to serve as a food source for the Namibian cheetahs. The chital, also known as the spotted deer, is a known species which can be found in Indian subcontinent.