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  • 2022-07-05 (xsd:date)
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  • Photo of elephant killed in India in 2019 misleadingly linked to Sri Lankan actor car crash (en)
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  • After a popular Sri Lankan actor was reportedly injured in a car crash involving a wild elephant, Facebook posts shared thousands of times showed a photo that they claimed showed the animal after it was hit by the car he was travelling in. However, the photo has circulated in reports about an elephant killed after it was hit by a train in India in 2019. Please get well soon, reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post published on July 3. The post, shared more than 900 times, shows a photo of an elephant covered in open wounds. Popular Sri Lankan actor Jackson Anthony was reportedly injured in a car crash on July 2 when the vehicle he was travelling in collided with a wild elephant in Thalawa in north-central Sri Lanka. Screenshot of the Facebook post, captured on July 3, 2022 The photo was shared more than 3,000 times in similar Facebook posts here and here . Some social media users appeared to believe the photo showed the elephant injured in the accident involving Jackson Anthony. Everyone is wishing that man a speedy recovery, but is anyone checking on this animal? Look at the injuries, it must be suffering terribly, one comment read. Another commented: The wildlife department had time to photograph the elephant but we are yet to see an update on its recovery. What are they even paid for? However, the image has been shared in a misleading context. India train smash A reverse image search on Google found the photo of the elephant in an article from November 2019 about an elephant killed after it was hit by a train in India. The article by UK-based animal rights organisation Protect All Wildlife is titled: Elephant Hit By Train In West Bengal's Dooars Passes Away After Struggling For Hours. The elephant was attempting to cross train tracks in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal state in eastern India, the article says. The Banarhat-Nagrakata train route passes through a major Elephant corridor often leading to such tragic accidents involving Elephants, it says. Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading posts (left) and as it appears in the article from 2019 (right): Screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading posts (L) and as it appears in the article from 2019 (R) The article linked to a video of the elephant struggling off the train tracks following the crash. Indian news magazine India Today reported that the accident happened on September 27, 2019. The elephant eventually succumbed to its injuries, India Times reported . Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Department of Wildlife Conservation said on July 4 it had deployed teams to track down the elephant involved in the Jackson Anthony crash. Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper quoted a senior wildlife official who said the creature likely sustained serious injuries in the accident. AFP previously debunked posts sharing the same photo in a misleading context. (en)
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