Does This Video Show a Drunk Man Petting Tiger in MP’s Pench? A Fact-Check

A video showing a man petting a tiger on the street and offering the wildcat to drink from a bottle is being shared on the internet as a recent incident from Madhya Pradesh‘s Pench area.

What have users said?: The post’s caption identified the man as one Raju Patel, a 52-year-old labourer, who was in an inebriated state and was seen petting a wildcat. It further said that the man remained unharmed after the incident.

The above post had gained over 59 thousand views on the platform. More archives of similar claims could be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: Multiple Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection tools show that the viral video has been AI-generated.

• Additionally, Rajneesh Singh, the deputy director of Pench Tiger Reserve, dismissed the video as fake and told a media outlet that it was not on a road within the reserve.