Human-like piglet is online hoax with Italian artist’s work

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 25, 2019 at 19:00
Updated on January 25, 2019 at 19:00
1 min read
By Mary KULUNDU

A picture claiming to show a piglet with human features has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and YouTube. The claim is false as the human-looking creature is actually a silicone sculpture created by Italian artist Laira Maganuco, whose work already appeared in another online hoax in India.

A July 26, 2018, Facebook post was shared 16,000 times and provoked more than 1,000 reactions and comments. The caption alleged that the strange incident occurred in Western Kenya.

"BREAKING NEWS. A pig in Kakamega has delivered a baby boy. Total shame to our men," the caption read.

Screenshot of Facebook post claiming pig gave birth to a piglet with human features

The images were also presented in this video on YouTube with more than 59,000 views.

A reverse image search showed the pictures were of silicone sculptures created by Maganuco.

She posted the sculptures on her Instagram account on July 26, 2018, with the caption: "Baby hibrid pig single piece sculptures."

Screenshot of Laira Magacuno's Instagram post

Maganuco reposted the images on Facebook last year and wrote that it appeared that Facebook had hidden a first post she had made with the images.

This is not the first time pictures of Maganuco’s sculptures have been used to mislead people on social media. Last year in India, a picture of one of her sculptures was used with a claim that people who disobeyed the Koran would turn into the strange creature portrayed in the artistic work.

Maganuco describes herself as a "hyper-realism silicon sculptor" who "likes creepy things and Hybrid Creatures” and sells the sculptures online.

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