Recently, a sick leopard was tortured by a group of people in Iklera village of Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh. In the same backdrop, a video went viral on social media showing a leopard walking slowly across an open field. A large group of people tried clicking selfies with the animal, petting it and even tried mounting it. Many users claim that the animal was drunk and under the influence of alcohol.Â
A Facebook user shared this video and wrote, “This leopard drank desi liquor from a Bhatti of desi daru. Villagers had to escort him to his abode..”
This Facebook post can be seen here.
It is being widely shared on Facebook and X with a similar claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be false.
Running the keyframes of the video through Reverse Image Search, we came across a report by the New Indian Express showing a still of the viral video. According to the report, the viral incident is from Dewas district. Quoting Dr Uttam Yadav, in-charge of Indore’s Kamla Nehru Zoo, the report mentions that the leopard was seriously ill. His body was stiffening and the animal was getting seizure attacks around every 20 minutes. Prima facie suggests that the animal was suffering from some brain disorder.
Our team also traced a report by Naiduniya, dated September 04, 2023, saying that the leopard was suffering from canine distemper — a highly infectious, multisystemic viral infection of dogs, with variable neurological disorders causing memory loss and a behaviour change. Since leopards prey on dogs, the contagious nature of the virus can affect them, too. Other wild animals in the zoo are at great risk due to the virus that is spreading through the air. To prevent the virus from infecting the rest of the animals, the leopard was quickly relocated on Sunday to Dewas Forest Department. However, he died at a zoo in Indore during treatment on Friday.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the leopard in the viral video was not under the influence of alcohol but was suffering from canine distemper.
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