AI-Generated Elephant Rescue Video Falsely Linked to Nepal Floods

A 20-second video depicting an elephant rescuing a person from a strong water current has been circulated extensively across various social media platforms with claims that the footage originated from recent floods in Nepal. However, independent verification and digital analysis have revealed that the viral clip is entirely unrelated to the severe weather events that recently struck the region, raising fresh concerns about the spread of digital misinformation during natural disasters.

According to the verified timeline of events, the same video appeared online at least 18 days prior to the severe floods and landslides that struck the Nepal-Tibet border region on August 26, 2024. Furthermore, researchers noted that the footage had already been circulated earlier in the month of August with entirely different claims, including assertions that it documented animal rescues or the devastating floods in Assam.

During the earlier disaster periods in Assam between July and August, when the regional death toll surpassed 100 fatalities and forced approximately 300,000 individuals to seek shelter in relief camps, various social media profiles began sharing dubious visual content. Specifically, a page identified as 'সংবাদ প্রতিদিন ২৪' accumulated over 372,000 video views and more than 7,000 reactions on the circulating footage, while other online profiles collectively amassed over 5,600,000 views. Additionally, an account belonging to Tony Gunk alone garnered 800,000 views for sharing the contested video.

In an effort to determine the authenticity of the viral material, digital investigators utilized advanced detection technology. When evaluated through the Hive Moderation tool, the video returned a 75 percent probability score indicating that the footage is entirely artificial and AI-generated, further discrediting the narrative pushed by accounts such as 'সংবাদ প্রতিদিন ২৪', Gazi Babl, Sowrov Ahmed, David J Harris Jr., Tony Gunk, 'বাংলা হান্ট', 'এই সময়', 'নাগরিক প্রতিদিন', 'দ্য ওয়্যার ইন্ডিয়া', and 'সঞ্জয় পেরা নিউজ'.

The dissemination of fabricated media was not limited to the elephant rescue clip alone. Fact-checkers and observers confirmed that a series of other old, unrelated videos originating from different geographic locations, including Uttarakhand and Jammu-Kashmir, were also falsely repurposed and circulated across digital networks as authentic documentation of the recent Nepal floods.