A video circulating on social media misleads viewers by claiming {that a} herd of elephants was swept away from Nepal in the course of the huge flash flood that tore by means of the Himalayan nation on Wednesday, killing over 200 individuals and leaving lots of of others lacking.
This video, together with the declare, has additionally been posted by a number of information shops.
Right here is the video:
An examination of official information and geographical information confirms that the incident didn’t originate in Nepal, nor have been any elephants swept throughout worldwide boundaries.
What truly occurred?
Round 10:20am on Wednesday, the Katarniaghat forest vary headquarters in Uttar Pradesh acquired a wi-fi message through the Kailashpuri barrier. A wild elephant herd, comprising three adults and two calves, was caught within the sturdy currents of the Kaudiyala river and was drifting towards the Girjapuri barrage.
The river’s power overwhelmed the calves. The grownup elephants who tried to defend and hold the calves afloat additionally struggled towards the highly effective move.
Upon receiving the alert, the Katarniaghat vary officer rushed to the Girjapuri barrage with a workforce of forest personnel. To halt the fast water move, the forest division contacted the Uttar Pradesh irrigation division.
Irrigation officers responded immediately by closing the barrage gates, slowing down the river’s present. With the present stabilised, the grownup elephants regained management and safely guided each younger calves to shallow waters close to the barrage.
Forest officers then used conventional drives that includes noise and commotion to information the complete herd safely again into the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
Geographical impossibility
The declare that these elephants have been swept all the best way from Nepal into India is geographically unsound. The satellite tv for pc distance map highlights the huge scale of the area—stretching over lots of of kilometers throughout Nepal’s panorama all the way down to Bardia and Katarniaghat. A herd of elephants merely couldn’t be swept throughout steady landmasses and mountain streams throughout such huge distances into the Kaudiyala river with out being observed or stranded lengthy earlier than reaching Girjapuri.
