Footage shows elephant with 'likely birth defect' from Africa, not animal harmed in India

Published on April 18, 2025 at 10:42
3 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

After the government started clearing a forested area in India's southern Hyderabad city, social media posts falsely claimed a clip of an elephant likely born with a congenital defect was taken after the operation. But an official from Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa confirmed to AFP the elephant belonged to its Umbabat Private Nature Reserve.

"Telangana government does not have a good veterinarian who can treat the injured elephant hit by a government JCB," says the Hindi-language X post shared on April 7, 2025.

JCB India Limited is a leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment in the country (archived link). In India, however, the term "JCB" is commonly used as a generic reference for bulldozers, regardless of the brand.

The post includes a clip of an elephant with a huge hole in its forehead.

"Where is the government, and how long will it continue to remain silent?" says overlaid text on the video.

The clip circulated on Facebook and X amid growing protests from students and citizens against clearing parts of the 400-acre (161-hectare) Kancha Gachibowli -- a forested land which borders the Hyderabad Central University -- to set up IT parks (archived link).

Screenshot of the false post, taken on April 16, 2025

Police detained several students on March 30 but later released them. Local media organisation NDTV reported the Supreme Court issued a stay order on the tree-felling on April 3 with a hearing set later in the month (archived link).

Another local media outlet reported at least three spotted deer were found dead on the university campus within a week after the state government cleared parts of the adjoining forested land (archived link).

But the video shows an elephant in South Africa, not Telangana.

A keyword search on Google found a photo of a similar elephant on the website of Singita, a South African luxury ecotourism brand (archived link).

The blogpost titled "An extraordinary elephant" mentions the elephant -- Rhandzekile -- has been spotted moving in several areas of the Greater Kruger National Park.

Screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the photo uploaded on Singita's website

An official of the National Park confirmed to AFP the elephant traverses the Umbabat Private Nature Reserve area of the park and is in good health.

"She has been assessed by wildlife veterinarians in the past, and her condition is most likely a birth defect, and no medical intervention is necessary," the official told AFP over email on April 11.

Africa Geographic, a wildlife safari website, wrote that Rhandzekile -- meaning "loved" in African Shangan dialect -- moves around freely in the Greater Kruger National Park showing her handicap does not hold her back in any way (archived link).

Stock photo website Alamy also shared the elephant's picture with a caption reading, "Rhandzekile has grown well into adulthood and is thought to be around 15 years old" (archived link).

Telangana typically doesn't have wild elephants, but there have been instances where stray elephants from neighbouring states have entered it (archived link).

AFP has fact-checked another claim linked to the Telangana land-clearing activities here.

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