Fact Check: Do the wildfire photos viral on social media belong to Nepal?

    Claim

    The photo of Calf and Deer trapped in a wildfire is from Nepal

    Author
    Jokes Nepal
    Verdict
    Incorrect
    The claim is fake The photo of deer and calf trapped in wild fire is from 29th October 2003 which was captured in Devore, Calif and 24th August 2013 which was captured in Groveland California respectively.

    The capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu is currently listed among the most polluted cities in the world, with the air quality index (AQI) exceeding 300. Specialists and meteorologists say that roaring wildfires in several parts of the country, bad atmospheric conditions and the air from India have caused this smog.

    After this incident, many social media users and pages have shared different photos of wildfire claiming it to be the prime reason for choking smog. But are those photos from Nepal? Let’s fact check.

    Jokes Nepal a popular meme page from Nepal with more than 10 lacs likes has shared some photos that don’t belong to Nepali wildfire. The caption cites β€œThis is neither from Amazon’s fire nor from Australia’s! If it had been from there everyone would have cried! Facebook may have been praying for amazon and Australia, but this is from Nepal, so no one seems to care about the fire in most parts of our country and its environmental impact.” The post by Jokes Nepal has been liked by more than 12K and has been shared by 5.3K people.

    One of the pictures shared on the Internet that is claimed to be from Nepal is of a wild deer running away from the flames of a wildfire. But this picture is from 29th October 2003 which was captured in Devore, Calif. See the original picture from here.

    Post by Jokes Nepal

    The same photo of deer is posted by Gopal Aryal, an actor in the Nepali cinema industry. He took his Facebook to share the same photo with the caption “The situation now in Nepal. πŸ˜₯πŸ˜₯
    Our stupid acts suffering us and the Nature.
    #PrayForNepal #weneedrain #savenature”

    Another picture uploaded by Jokes Nepal and various other users on social media is of a calf captured in the fire. But as per our research, we found that the original photo was uploaded by National Geographic that writes “A cow walks by flames from the Rim fire near the Yosemite National Park border in Groveland, California, on August 24, 2013.” See the original post from here.

    Photo Uploaded by Users on Twitter

    Claim: The photo of Calf and Deer trapped in wildfire is from Nepal

    Fact-Check: The claim is fake The photo of deer and calf trapped in a wildfire is from 29th October 2003 which was captured in Devore, Calif and 24th August 2013 which was captured in Groveland California respectively.

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