IAS officer clarifies on 'fake video' of Gir lions

The video was shared by many including Union Minister for Forest and Environment Prakash Javadekar

Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Rajiv Kumar Gupta on Friday issued a 'clarification' on his Twitter account, saying that the video of a pride of Asiatic lions in Gir forest, which turned out to be fake, was shared with him by Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, Shyamal Tikadar.

Posting an apology letter, said to have been written by Tikadar, Gupta wrote on Twitter, "Tikadar has apologised for his lapse & indiscretion. Inconvenience & confusion caused is sincerely regretted with an assurance for double caution in future."

On Thursday, Gupta, an IAS officer from 1986-batch, had posted a video on Twitter while claiming that "Lions are completely safe in Gir landscape in the aftermath of #Tauktecyclone. @GujForestDept Field staff has kept constant monitoring of lion movement. A rare video of a Pride in Akolvadi range Gir West crossing a water way safely, being shared."

Gupta, who is also MD of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam and overseeing Ahmedabad covid-19 preparedness, had also tagged Prime Minister and Gujarat Chief Minister's offices' accounts to claim that lions were completely safe in the aftermath of cyclone Tauktae. This was against a news report which claimed that several lions had gone missing.

The video, which was shared by many including Union Minister for Forest and Environment Prakash Javadekar and hundreds of others, shows a group of lions crossing a waterway.

Javadekar also reverted on the microblogging website to say, "Happy to know that #LionsAreSafe in Gir landscape post #Tauktecyclone. Kudos to the @GujForestDept staff for constant monitoring."

Later, the video turned out to have been shot in South Africa and the lions in it were not Asiatic ones.

Gupta, facing criticism on Twitter, posted an update with an "apology" letter reportedly written by Tikadar in which the latter had admitted that he had forwarded the video clip to Gupta. The letter states, "The clip in question was sent by me as it was forwarded to me by an eminent wildlife enthusiast."

It said that the authenticity of the clip couldn't be "ascertained" as staff was involved in "massive tracking and rescue operations."

It goes on to say, "The confusion caused was purely unintentional without any mala-fide intention and I deeply regret it and am extremely sorry for the same. At the same time, I would like to reassure on behalf of the Wildlife wing of Gujarat forest department that most of the lions have been tracked after the cyclone and have been found to be safe."