Fact Check: This lion is not wandering on streets of Sudan amid civil war, old video from Libya viral
India Today found that the viral video is from Libya's city of Benghazi. The video dates back to 2021.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is from Libya and dates back to 2021.
Sudan is witnessing one of the worst civil wars in years with Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Army engaged in fierce bloodbath.
Meanwhile, a video of a lion roaming on the streets of some city has gone viral on social media. Many social media users are claiming that this lion had escaped from a zoo in Sudan’s capital Khartoum.
The viral video is blurry but some shops visible in the video seem to have signboards in Arabic.
A Facebook user while sharing this video wrote, "A lion was spotted walking on the street after escaping from a zoo in Khartoum, Sudan."
The archived version of one such post can be seen here.
India Today found that the viral video is old and from Benghazi in Libya.
Our Probe
Many people have commented on these posts and stated that the viral video is old and precedes the recent civil war in Sudan.
Reverse search of the viral video keyframes led us to an extended version of the viral video, which was shared by Libyan News outlet Al Hadath Libya on Facebook on February 24, 2021.
It reported that the video is from Benina area of Benghazi city, where someone captured this lion roaming on the streets.
Libyan TV also reported that this lion was seen wandering the streets of Benghazi.
According to Sky News Arabia, the concerned authorities in Benghazi were able to capture the lion alive.
Another Arabic news portal, Al Bayan News too reported on the capture of the lion and also shared its video.
To sum it up, an outdated video of a lion roaming in streets from Libya is being shared as a recent video from Sudan.
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