Fact Check – Is the viral video of a tiger, tied down by ropes, from Bihar? Read the reality here

Recently, a video on social media, in which a Tiger, subdued and restrained, sits on an elephant’s back as two men twist its ears, sitting along the Tiger, exerting control, held by ropes around it’s neck while a few passerby’s can be seen pulling the legs of the tiger, all along the tiger being in the state of distress, is doing rounds on Social media.  The disturbing footage of a tiger on an elephant’s back, surrounded by jeering crowds and rough handling, has ignited outrage among social media users and animal rights activists.

A user, Yati Sharma on X (formally twitter) shared the video with the caption – “This is Bihar babu! Here they apply turmeric even to flying birds!

Such amazing sights can only be seen in Bihar!”

Additionally, other users were also found who shared the similar video and claimed it to be from Bihar which can be viewed here, here and here.

Fact Check

Upon investigation by DFRAC, it was revealed that the video being shared is not a recent video, but was taken in January 2011. The Users also claim that the video belongs from Bihar, however upon further investigation, it was revealed that the video belongs from Nainital and not from Bihar.

Upon reverse image search, we at DFRAC, found a report by India Today, published on Jan 28, 2011, which reported that a male tiger of Corbett national park, blamed for six human deaths, was shot dead by the forest guards in Ramnagar division of Uttarakhand on Thursday afternoon.

Further the report stated “The Uttarakhand forest officials confirmed that the tiger killed by them was the one which was killing humans in Corbett. It carried an old bullet injury on its shoulder which had healed, the officials said.”

Hindustan Times, on Jan 27, 2011, reported “A tiger was shot dead today in Ramnagar forest division, post protest by villagers of Sunderkhal adjoining Corbett Tiger Reserve who not only blocked NH 121 but also pelted stones at forest officials.

We also investigated further and found a tweet, on Thursday, December 26, 2024, by Parveen Kaswan, an IFS, which states-

“It’s an old video of 2011 from Ramnagar of Uttrakhand. The tiger killed 6 people and later hunted down by authorities. It was transported on elephant, maybe vehicles were not able to go to the place.”

Conclusion

From the above fact check, conducted by DFRAC it is clear that the video does not belong to Bihar, as no resourceful person or website has claimed to be, but rather belongs to Uttarakhand’s Ramnagar. The video has been resurfacing on Social media is a decade old video, and not a recent one. Thus, it is clear that the claim is misleading.