Image shows elephants running for higher ground in the “past few weeks.”
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Elephant photo has been online since at least 2018; it’s not a recent sign of an apocalypse
If Your Time is short
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This photo has been online since at least 2018.
Are elephants on the hills the new canaries in the coal mines? A recent Instagram post says an image of three elephants walking uphill is a sign of a looming apocalypse.
"Zoologists around the world are now sounding the alarm that something apocalyptic could be around the corner," says a person in a March 19 Instagram video. "They said that the animals have been moving restless for the past few weeks, moving to higher ground."
The person then goes on to say that the image "is a picture that somebody captured of the animals running toward the hills of higher ground."
But the photo was taken at least six years ago.
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This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Doing a reverse-image search, we found that the picture was uploaded to a German photo website on May 30, 2018.
A Google translation of the German photo description says: "Three elephants walk in the jungle in Chiang Mai, Thailand."
We rate claims that this photo was taken within the past few weeks False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, March 19, 2024
iStock, Three elephants walk in the jungle in Chiang Mai Thailand stock photo, uploaded May 30, 2018
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Elephant photo has been online since at least 2018; it’s not a recent sign of an apocalypse
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