No, this Kerala man is not feeding ‘meat’ to an elephant

A video is currently viral on social media with the claim that an elephant attacked a Muslim man and a boy in Kerala who tried to feed meat to the elephant.

One Ravindra Tiwari wrote, “Are these fellows born idiots or are they trying to convert even animals to Islam? [sic]”

Similarly, Facebook accounts Yogi Bhakt, Kirti Mishra, Jago BharatJago, Ritesh Kumar Mishra and many others too posted the video with similar claims.

The same pattern was observed on Twitter.

This Kerala muslim fellow tried to give meat to the elephant….see what happened.

Are these fellows born idiots or are they trying to convert even animals to islam? pic.twitter.com/UI6KbMyO2Y

— #DextrousNinja🇮🇳 (@DextrousNinja) April 9, 2022

केरल के इस मुस्लिम ने हाथी को मांस देने की कोशिश….देखो क्या हुआ क्या ये लोग पैदाइशी राक्षस हैं ये जानवरों को भी इस्लाम में बदलने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं pic.twitter.com/1uOCpRNE1E

— Uttam Chaurasiya – ( भारतीय )🇮🇳🙏 (@INDUttam) April 13, 2022

Fact-check

Alt News carried out a reverse image search of the screenshots from the video and found that news outlets from southern states have covered the incident.

ETV Bharat reported that a man courageously saved his four-year-old son from being attacked by an elephant. Matrubhumi reported that the incident took place in Malappuram district.

Alt News found that the video was shot in Pazamparampa village which falls under the Keezuparmpa post of Malappuram district. Keezuparmpa Gram Panchayat chairman Sakkiya Nisar YP confirmed the same to us while stating, “The female elephant seen in the video while attacking the kid is owned by Abdul Nassar. The name of the elephant is Mini.”

He said that there is a custom in Kerala to feed coconuts to elephants to cure scurvy baby bumps. The incident took place when a minor boy along with his father tried to feed a coconut to Mini.

Alt News reached out to Abdul Nassar. He said, “The incident is about four to six months old when my neighbour Nabeel Kunhappu, who works in Saudi Arabia, had come home during vacation.”

Nassar said that Kunhappu along with family members wanted to feed the elephant. Kunhappu gave a coconut to the elephant. The coconut was hard and the elephant did not like it. A video of Kunhappu feeding Mini is attached below.

“Later Kunhappu’s son started insisting that he too wants to feed the elephant. But when the boy raised his arm to give a coconut to the elephant, the animal charged at him. Kunhappu pulled the boy away,” added Nassar.

Though the incident took place a few months back, it went viral after Kunhappu, who recently returned to Saudi Arabia, shared it on his Facebook account.

The video has been shared with a false claim. The man and his son were not feeding meat to the elephant but gave the elephant a coconut.