The world is struggling to control Coronavirus, but the numbers are increasing with every passing day. Currently, the deadly virus has infected three lac people, and more than thirteen thousand people have lost their lives succumbing to the severe infection. The world economy is at a standstill, global industries have come on halt, unemployment is on the rise, and amidst all the chaos rumours are on the rise.
Lion patrolling on the streets of Russia on the orders of President Putin
Recently, a piece of shocking News became famous overnight that claimed Russian President, Vladimir Putin has released 800 lions and tigers across the country to enforce the lockdown. Most of the countries are imposing quarantine to control the mass contamination, but people are not complying with it. Often people don't take it seriously and go for a stroll or hang out with friends, which can prove to be dangerous.
To ensure a complete lockdown, Putin has released the dangerous wild cats on the streets across the country, which is fake. But, the truth is the lion shown in the image is Columbus, a lion from South Africa, which was used for recording. It was brought to Johannesburg by a production company. According to Anti Fake News War Room by India Today, they did a fact check on the News by using Google Reverse Image research.
The News was created as Breaking News by a website as the graphic plate on the video/image did not belong to any news site. Even during the fact check, it was revealed that the image was used in 2016 by Daily Post that announced the use of Columbus for filming.
Even the image of a lion resting on the car is not from Russia. It is the same lion that was supposed to be used for filming in Johannesburg, but later the shoot got cancelled because proper permissions were not taken. Let's hope that such hoaxes are not spread in challenging times, and everyone stays safe in the quarantine.