E-Paper
Image of world’s largest snake and claim that it killed 257 people is fake
The posts also claim that the snake is 134 feet long and it weighs 2067 kgs.
Image of a snake – shared on various social media platforms during different times – claiming that it’s “World’s biggest snake Anaconda found in Africa’s Amazon river” is doing its rounds on the Internet. The posts also claim that the snake, 134 feet long and 2067 kgs, “has killed 257 human beings and 2325 animals. The posts further say, “Africa’s Royal British commandos took 37 days to get it killed.” The image is fake and the claim is untrue.
The image is not recent and has been circulating for at least since 2015.
Shared by a Facebook user on 2015:
There are many aspects that indicate that the image is edited. If you look closely, the surface where the snake’s body meets the ground appears distorted. Further, a reverse search reveals that the image of the snake is that of a normal-sized anaconda on which the surrounding and the men were added.
Talking about the caption, it claims that the snake is found in Africa’s Amazon River. This is false as Amazon River is located in South America not Africa.
The posts also claim that the reptile is “134 feet long and 2067 kgs.” According to National Geographic, the green anaconda is the world’s largest snake and it can weigh up to 550 kgs – which is far less than what the posts claim. Also, this kind grows up to about 30 feet. Though the reticulated python can grow slightly longer in length, the green anaconda is the heaviest. Hence, the claim that the reptile is 134-foot-long is false too.
Coming to the claim about the number of animals and human beings killed by the snake, there is no such report on the Internet that indicates about such a massive tragedy.
According to the posts, Africa’s Royal British commandos killed the snake. Such an organisation doesn’t exist.
So, the image and the claim about world’s largest snake are untrue.
