Fact check: Image of half human-half elephant is an artwork
Human-Animal hybrid experiments are taking place away from the media spotlight. This Human-Elephant hybrid was recently born to a woman in Norway.
By Satya Priya BN Published on 21 Jun 2021 12:14 PM GMT
An image of half human-half elephant newborn baby is viral on social media.
Users claim that Human-Animal hybrid experiments are taking place away from the media spotlight. This Human-Elephant hybrid was recently born to a woman in Norway.
This image is in circulation online for several years on social media along with the same claim. Few Facebook users shared it with the claim 'a Norwegian woman gives birth to Half Human – Half Elephant Hybrid Baby.'
https://www.facebook.com/
Another Facebook user shared the same image with a narrative: "A half-human/half elephant hybrid was developed at the University Hospital Cardiff is part of a secret UK government on human gene manipulation. An egg from an anonymous (sic)."
A Twitter user shared the same claim in 2015 with a link to an article on the website `Huzlers.com'. It was headlined: ` A Norwegian Woman Gives Birth To Baby Elephant!'
The article said millions of Hindus from India have begun a pilgrimage to Norway, to visit a couple who recently gave birth to half-human/ half elephant baby, as they believe that the baby resembles to Ganesha.
The article said when asked a child's name, father Alexandar only answered: "We never really gave it a name. To be quite honest, we were just going to call it the creature that we keep in the basement. We were essentially just going to keep the little ginger plant in the basement and feed him drifters that we picked up off of the road. This does open up some new options. We might sell him to India. They'd probably let him live in the Taj Mahal."
This ending seems to be very absurd.
But unbelievably, around the same period of time, there were several other articles published in a similar manner among Indian publications too
http://latestnews-hyderabad.
Archive links:
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https://web.archive.org/save/
https://web.archive.org/save/
Fact check:
The claim that a Norwegian Couple gave birth to a half Human – half Elephant hybrid baby is FALSE.
When observed the website properly, in the about section of the website, we found that the website is a satirical blog. "Huzlers is a satirical and fictional entertainment blog producing content in such a complex way that it could not conveniently be presented or represented anywhere else but Huzlers," reads the intro of the website
Upon further search using Google Reverse image search, we found an article in a website `thatsnonsense.com', stating that rumors that a Norwegian woman gave birth to an elephant are spreading across the Internet from users unaware that they are spreading the link on Facebook.
It appears to have started on a fake news website called Huzlers.com, which often posts nonsense articles to lure visitors to its website. The fake article claimed that a woman in Norway gave birth to a "half human/half elephant hybrid baby" and even showed a photo purporting to be of the genetically challenged child.
Of course, the photo is entirely false and is actually an art exhibit by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini.
Taking the cue, when we searched for Patricia Piccinini, we found that she is an Australian Contemporary artist, popular for her controversial art sculptures. We also found the website Patricia Piccinini.net, which shows all her works from 1997 to 2013.
We also found the index of all her works on the website.
https://www.patriciapiccinini.
The viral image is on the list of her artworks with the title "Newborn, 2010". According to the details, it is made from Silicone, fiberglass, human hair, feral New Zealand possum pelt. And these artworks are being exhibited in art galleries in Australia.
https://www.patriciapiccinini.
https://www.patriciapiccinini.
According to an article on the artist in the Guardian, Piccinini's explorations of biology's potential for change led the New York Times to hail her "sculptures of life forms that don't exist". Over the last few years her unique, three-dimensional monsters made of parts both familiar and strange have made their way into collections across with world, as well as into the Australian popular imagination.
We can see the viral image also been shared in this article.
Hence, the claim that a Norwegian Couple gave birth to a half Human – half Elephant hybrid baby is FALSE. An artwork by an Australian artist is being shared with a false narrative to mislead people and create confusion.
