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  • 2019-05-17 (xsd:date)
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  • No, these are not photos of a bird killed by Cyclone Fani in 2019 (en)
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  • A collage of three photos has been shared thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim they show a bird killed during Cyclone Fani, which struck India and Bangladesh in May 2019. The claim is false; the photos have circulated online since at least December 2018 in Tamil-language reports. The photo collage was shared in a Facebook post here on May 7, 2019, by a page with nearly a million followers. It has been shared more than 4,200 times since. Below is a screenshot of the misleading post: Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: A real Garuda bird died in Cyclone Fani. It had been living in a cave. If you have mercy in your heart, then write ‘RAM’. Garuda bird is a reference to an eagle-like bird prominent in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Here is a definition of the term from Britannica Encyclopedia. Cyclone Fani refers to the cyclone which hit India and Bangladesh in May 2019. Here is an AFP report published about it on May 4. The same collage was shared with an identical claim elsewhere on Facebook, for example here , and with a similar claim on Twitter here . The claim is false; the photos have been online since at least December 2018 in Tamil-language reports. A reverse image search on Google found the same images were shared on Facebook here and here in December 2018. Below is a screenshot of one of the posts: Screenshot of one of the posts The Tamil-language caption translates to English as: In ancient times the bird called Jatayu. Jatayu refers to the name of a Garuda bird from the Hindu epics. Here is an example of the term used in an extract of a Hindu epic published by the British Library. The same images were used in this Tamil-language blog post published on December 29, 2018. The headline translates to English as: In ancient times the bird called Jatayo. Below is a screenshot of the report: Screenshot of the report Multiple bird experts contacted by AFP said the images could show a White-rumped Vulture, which is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, but they said it was not possible to clearly identify the bird from the images. (en)
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