Fact Check: Photos of Italian artwork viral as ‘dangerous animal’ lurking farms at night

A message warning farmers to say wary of a ‘dangerous animal’ is widely circulating on social media. “It is requested to all farmers to not step out on farms at night. Stay safe, beware, this is an extremely dangerous animal which is now headed to Rajasthan from Gujarat.”

News18 report

Alt News has also received verification requests on its official mobile application.

Fact-check

After performing a reverse image search, we found these photos in a blog post dated July 13, 2020. According to the blog post, the photos show a silicon artwork created by Laira Maganuco, an artist who is able to “stimulate nature, refining her own style that finds a place in the hyperrealism and surrealism world. She is able to improve more and more her sculptural technique that leads to the creation of unique silicone works.”

On October 3, 2018, Maganuco shared videos of her artwork along with pictures going viral on Facebook. She wrote that the creation is a silicon artwork of a hybrid version of an Armadillo. Pictures of numerous such silicon artwork have also been shared on Maganuco’s Instagram page.

Her artwork is available on etsy.com which says she is from Italy.

The Armadillo picture viral on social media is up for sale on the website for US$ 7933.46. The product description reads, “This piece is carved entirely by hand in acetic silicone paste. The technique developed by me over time. The product is unique and unrepeatable, suitable for enthusiasts and collectors. It contains elements of great detail, to make the piece of art even more realistic.”

Thus pictures of silicon artwork made by an Italian artist are viral with false claims warning farmers to beware of a ‘dangerous animal’ lurking on farms at night.