Fact Check: Did Singapore appeal to all nations to suspend zoo culture?

Claim: Singapore appealed to all the other nations to suspend the zoo culture. 

Rating: False

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What is the rumour about?

• According to a social media message, Singapore has appealed to the other nations to stop the zoo culture so that the captive animals don't have to suffer in lockdown. Take a look at a few Twitter and Instagram forwards about the same. 
• According to the message, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore PM, has said that "COVID has taught and explained how it feels to be caged". 

Image courtesy: Instagram

Image courtesy: Twitter

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Who started the rumour?

• Social media forwards, especially Facebook and Twitter. 
• The majority of the forwards were found on Facebook around the dates of April 19, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Facebook

Image courtesy: Twitter

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Google Trends 

After an analysis of Google Trends with respect to Singapore's appeal to other nations to suspend the zoo culture rumour, one can see that people have been hugely interested to know about the same. The maximum number of searches have been done on April 19, 2020, the day after Facebook forwards were initiated. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Republic World did a fact check 

• Republic World did a fact check on Singapore's appeal to suspend the zoo culture all over the world. The claims were found to be false.
• Singapore PM Mr Lee Hsien Loong has not declared any official announcements about stopping the zoo culture in Singapore, neither any official announcements about it have been done. No appeal has been made to other nations for stopping the zoo culture as well.
• The social media forwards that were found on Facebook were all from Indian users, and it appears to be a call to sign a petition on Change.org which intends to stop the zoo culture all over the world.
• People forwarding the messages intend to put a hold on wildlife markets as well. According to a Facebook user, the wildlife markets are where the wild captive animals are sold in unhygienic conditions that too in close proximity to people. This could lead to the creation of another pandemic as the wildlife markets are another source of zoonotic diseases that can spread to humans. 
• So, in conclusion, all the message forwards with respect to Singapore's appeal to stop the zoo culture is a personal message of a few social media users. 

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Promo Image credit: Gyorgy Bakos on Unsplash