Lion attack video is fake and was created for an experiment

A video circulating online shows two hunters posing by a dead lion before being chased and seemingly killed by another lion. But this clip has been edited and doesn’t show a real scene.

In the video, a man and a woman—who is holding a rifle—are posing for a photo behind a dead lion when a second lion appears from behind them and chases them out of the frame. Gunshots and shouting can be heard before the lion reappears. 

The clip has been shared with overlaid text saying “instant karma hitting people”, while another caption says: “According to the content creator, the man and woman did not survive, their escort drove off and left them behind”. 

But this is not true. The clip has been staged and edited. It was shared on YouTube in 2016 with the caption: “Lion Takes Revenge On Trophy Hunter!” but the video description says it was directed and produced by an Australian production company. It was reportedly part of a “two-year experiment” researching what makes content go viral online. 

A reverse image search shows the body of the dead lion has been cropped from a genuine photo taken in South Africa in 2013 which shows a different man holding a rifle behind the lion carcass. The trees and shrubbery in the background are also different. 

The clips of the ‘live’ lion moving towards and away from the camera were actually filmed in front of a blue screen and have been edited into this scene. 

Other videos that circulated as part of the same experiment include a shark attack, a snowboarder being chased by a bear, and someone nearly being struck by lightning. 

We’ve written about other examples of edited or staged videos being shared as if they’re real, including a conceptual clip supposedly showing the world’s first artificial womb facility, a CGI WW2 video being shared as footage from Ukraine, and staged CCTV footage supposedly showing a woman’s drink being spiked and a baby being separated from its mother on a metro platform. 

It’s important to consider whether a video on social media shows what it claims to be before sharing it. Our guide to identifying misleading videos may help you to do so. 

Image courtesy of Kevin Pluck