No, This Clip Does Not Show Elephants Leaving Hyderabad’s Kancha Gachibowli

We were able to trace back this video to August 2024 as one from Sri Lanka and not Hyderabad, as claimed.

Fact-Check: This video is from Sri Lanka when a herd of elephants entered a village. 

(Source: The Quint) 

A video showing a herd of elephants crossing a road is being shared as one from Hyderabad following the destruction in the Kancha Gachibowli area.

• Those sharing wrote, "In Hyderabad, the whole elephant family set out to find a new home." (sic.)

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• This video is from Sri Lanka when a herd of elephants entered a village and were driven back. It dates back to 2024.

What we found: We divided the video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We, then, came across several posts on social media platforms showing the same video as one from Sri Lanka.

• A video on YouTube from February noted, "Elephant Herd Cross Road in Sri Lanka." (sic.)

• Similarly, we also found other videos on YouTube which stated that the clip was from Sri Lanka. They stated that the elephants had entered a village in the country.

• Posts on Facebook further confirmed that the video was from Sri Lanka and not Hyderabad as claimed. You can view some of the posts here and here.

• We, then, ran a relevant keyword search and found several news reports from Sri Lanka which were from August 2024.

• A report by TamilWin, a news outlet based in Colombo noted that 35 wild elephants had entered a village by under the Borathivu Divisional Secretariat Division of Batticaloa. This took place on 22 August 2024.

• The Department of Wildlife Conservation managed the issue and, after about two hours, with the cooperation of the local public, drove the herd of wild elephants back into the forest.

Here is a preview of the report.

(Source: Tamil Win/Screenshot) 

• Similarly, Hiru News and Athavan News reported on this matter in August 2024.

Conclusion: A video showing a herd of elephants walking in a field has been falsely shared as one from Hyderabad.

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