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| - Fact Check: No, this is not one of the cheetahs imported from Namibia — this wild cat is from the US
A video of a cheetah has gone viral on social media, with the claim that it was one of the imported cheetahs from Namibia. AFWA's investigation found the claim to be false.
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India Today Fact Check
This cheetah is not one of the eight brought in from Namibia. It’s from a wildlife sanctuary in Minnesota, US. Tammy Thies, its founder, confirmed this to AFWA.
Never has India been obsessed with cheetahs more! Ever since eight cheetahs were imported from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on September 17, these wild cats have been all over the news and social media.
Of the many, many posts about the cats, one was an adorable video of a cheetah meowing. Many sharing this video claimed this was one of the aforementioned imported cheetahs.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also took a jibe at the central government while sharing the same video.
. pic.twitter.com/O6CcygRfpg — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 17, 2022
AFWA found that this cheetah is not one of those brought in from Namibia. It’s from a wildlife sanctuary in Minnesota in the US. The archived versions of posts making such claims can be seen here and here.
AFWA Probe
While reverse-searching its keyframes, we found the extended version of this video featuring two cheetahs. The November 2021 YouTube video, uploaded by the Wildcat Sanctuary, was titled “Kitu and Lavani's Special Relationship.”
According to the sanctuary’s website mentioned in this YouTube channel’s bio, it’s a non-profit rescue sanctuary located in Sandstone, Minnesota, US, that claims to provide “a natural sanctuary for wild cats in need and inspires change to end the wildlife crisis.”
AFWA contacted Tammy Thies, the founder and executive director of the Wildcat Sanctuary, who confirmed that this video is from their sanctuary and that the cheetah in the video and his brother are still under their care.
The cheetah in the viral video, per Thies, is Kitu, who, along with his brother Lavani, came to the Wildcat Sanctuary in April 2021 at the age of 11. She added, “They were born in the United States, were at a zoo for several years before being retired to our sanctuary where they will remain their entire lives.”
Thies also shared other videos of these cheetahs posted on their verified Facebook page.
Thus, we confirm that the viral video does not feature one of the cheetahs brought from Namibia to India.
(Written by Yash Mittal)
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