France Riot: No Animals Were Released, Unlike Internet Claims

Videos of zoo animals roaming around the streets of Paris have gone viral as the French cities face unrest due to the violent protest following the killing of a 17-year-old by the police.

One video shared on Twitter by Insane Reality Leaks has shown that three lions were released from the Paris Zoo during the riot.

As of writing, the video garnered 1.9 million views.

Another viral video being shared on social media giants is a zebra running through traffic.

The Twitter user who posted the video also claimed that rioters had let the elephants and other animals escape from the zoo.

Read Also: How Do Zoos Cope Up With Deaths Of Their Animals

Old and Unrelated Videos

Newschecker has reported that the viral animal videos are old and appear to be unrelated to the ongoing crisis in France.

Their investigation showed that the video of the lions strolling in the streets of Paris was posted in 2020.

Although the news cite was not able to determine the exact location of where the video was taken, it was highly noticeable that it was shared on Facebook and Youtube in February 2022.

The video of zebra running was also posted in 2020.

The researchers used the keywords "Zebra" and "Paris roads," that led them to a NDTV report dated April 14, 2020, which showed the exact same video.

The news organization quoted a report of Huffington Post saying that a zebra and two horses "escaped from a circus in the town of Ormesson-sur-Marne and made its way to the neighbouring town of Champigny-sur-Marne on the outskirts of the French capital."

The owner of the circus said the animals had escaped when their enclosure was left unlocked, but they were not able to wander too far and were recaptured after 15 minutes.

Paris Zoological Park, which is located in Paris, gave an assurance that their animals are all accounted for and safe.

"Hello, don't worry the animals of @zoodeparis are fine and are all safe! Have a nice day," the zoo management tweeted last July 3, as a response to an inquiry if their animals were set free during the riot.

Harder To Fight Fake News In The Internet

It is still unclear what were the motives for spreading these old videos. However, Forbes reported that there have been some viral videos surfacing that are not related to the riot, including videos of a fake sniper, a crowd in Mexico City, and even a stolen police van that was used for a Netflix movie.

This has brought more confusion to the public, and unfortunately, it has become harder to determine if the accounts posting videos are legit since Twitter wealthy owner Elon Musk removed the old verification process since he bought the social media platform in October 2022.

Insane Reality Leaks, who posted the lion video, has a blue "verified" check mark.

Anyone can now buy a check worth $8 per month, making it easier for people to spread news with the help of Twitter's algorithm.

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