Fact check: Were lionesses spotted in Delhi's Dhaula Kuan area recently?

A recent video showcasing a pride of lionesses strolling on Delhi streets became viral on social media. The video claims to be from Delhi cantonment streets near Dhaula Kuan. One can see that the video has been made from inside the car and lionesses along with their cubs are moving past the car. The video states that wild animals are moving freely as the streets are devoid of any traffic jam due to the current lockdown in the country. Check out some social media forwards that have been shared in the past few hours. 

Image courtesy: Facebook forwards

Image courtesy: Youtube

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Google Trends 

After an analysis of Google Trends with respect to lions spotted in Delhi's Dhaula Kuan rumour, it is found that the maximum number of searches have been done on May 7, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Republic World did a fact check 

• Republic World did a fact check on the lions in Dhaula Kuan rumour and found the claims to be unproven.
• There is no confirmation on whether the lionesses and their cubs that are seen in the video were spotted on Delhi streets. As the exact same video is being forwarded on all the social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, there is no proof that multiple people saw the same occurrence. 
• The Delhi forest and wildlife department experts suspect that the video of the pride of lionesses could be from Gujarat, as it is highly unlikely to spot Asiatic lions in Delhi. The wildlife experts also state that the streets do not seem to be of Dhaula Kuan region. 
• Some social media users also suggested that the video could be from South Africa and not India, which could also be possible as the South African cars also have right hand driving just like Indian four-wheelers. However, it is not sure that the animals are Asiatic or African in origin. 

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Is there any rumour you want Republic World to do a fact check on? Do you have facts about a rumour? Share your pictures or videos with Republic World on contact@republicworld.com or comment on this story itself. 

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