The video has been in circulation at least since 2021 and is not of a recent incident of stray lions in Zambia.
This video of a roaring lion circulating on Facebook linked to the lions reportedly on the loose in Zambia’s Western Province is not recent.
Although the news of two stray lions in the province is true, as confirmed by multiple credible news sources, among them Lukulu FM Community Radio based in Western Province, the video circulating is not of one of the lions in question.
In an interview with Zambian journalist Liwena Mukeya, Moonga Phanroad, one of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) senior wardens in charge of Western Province further confirmed the development. He also noted that there are “untrue pictures of the lions in certain instances.”
We, therefore, investigated the video to determine its authenticity in relation to news regarding the stray lions.
A Google reverse search of frames showed multiple results indicating the video was published as far back as 2021.
In narrowing it down, the earliest instance of the video from the search indicated was a post on Facebook on 5 May 2021. However, the post was not clear on the origin of the video.
The search results also brought up another post on YouTube shared on 16 June 2021 which was titled ‘Kruger National Park’ located in South Africa.
While we are unable to determine the origins of the video, it is clear that the footage has been online at least since May 2021 and is not representative of the recent situation in Zambia’s Western Province. This misinformation can disrupt daily activities, causing unnecessary panic and hindering normal routines.
This blog post was produced by Bloggers of Zambia, under the African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).
