SL High Commission in Pakistan Strictly Denies Claims of Gifting Two Female Elephants to Pakistan!
The Young African elephant “Noor Jehan” died in Karachi Zoo of Pakistan in mid-April, and animal rights activists were calling for the closure of the zoo, pointing out that the negligence of the Pakistani zoo officers and the grim situation of the place was the reason behind the untimely the death of the giant. Within […]
The Young African elephant “Noor Jehan” died in Karachi Zoo of Pakistan in mid-April, and animal rights activists were calling for the closure of the zoo, pointing out that the negligence of the Pakistani zoo officers and the grim situation of the place was the reason behind the untimely the death of the giant. Within that background, a wave of social media posts says Sri Lanka will send two female elephants to Pakistan zoos as gifts.
This made local as well as international headlines, and our investigation found these claims to be misleading.
Social Media Posts
The social media posts were trying to convince the public that Sri Lanka would gift two female elephants to Pakistan. And interestingly, those posts take the sources as a conversation of Pakistani mainstream media GeoNews with Sri Lanka's honorary consular general to Lahore, Yasin Joya.
Users commented on it like below.
Posts were viral on Facebook and shared among mainstream media in Sri Lanka and social media users.
Animal rights activist groups in Sri Lanka also called out against the possible gifting of two female Sri Lankan elephants to Pakistan after the plight of Noor Jehan, as seen below.
Explained
First, we directed our attention towards the full article of Geo News, which was the primary source of subsequent viral claims. Speaking to GeoNews, the Honorary Consul General of Sri Lanka to Pakistan, Yasin Joyia, reportedly said that Sri Lanka would send two female elephants to Pakistan as gifts. According to a Geonews report, Joyia said Sri Lanka would send those two elephants to Lahore and Karachi Zoo. The GeoNews report can be found here.
However, in a Tweet Sri Lankan high commission in Pakistan categorically denied the viral claims and strictly noted that there had not been any discussion or initiation of transferring elephants to Pakistan. Furthermore, SL High Commission in Pakistan adds that no such discussion had taken place between the two governments nor the Zoos in Karachi or Lahore; neither Government of Pakistan has made any such request from Sri Lanka. They further note that Joyia had stated only about some possibilities, but he is not authorized to do so and advised to refrain from making further statements on this matter. The full Tweet can be seen below.
Pakistani celebrities were also among the group who raised their voices against the death of Noor Jahan Elephant and the irresponsibility of Pakistani officials. Pakistani Actress Ayesha Omar lauded the clarification by SL High Commission on this sensitive matter, as reported here.
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Conclusion
According to our investigation, we were able to find out that the viral story of sending two female elephants from Sri Lanka to Pakistan is misleading. It's based on the irresponsible statement of Sri Lanka's honorary consular of Lahore, and Sri Lankan high commission categorically denied any such preparation and said it had strictly advised to consular general of Lahore not to deliver such statements again.
Title:SL High Commission in Pakistan Strictly Denies Claims of Gifting Two Female Elephants to Pakistan!
By: Kalana KrishanthaResult: Explainer
