HUBBALI: Fake information has certainly been on the rise during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown and old animal pictures too weren't spared the headache as many re-circulated online under the guise of being captured recently.
Be it a bunch of peacocks on a street in Bengaluru, or a herd of deer on a highway, most of the pictures were taken in the past but were re-uploaded with fake locations and the intent to make them 'trend' online.
A snap with a leopard along and cow in frame, which was captured many years ago in Gujarat, was widely re-circulated on social media by unknown sources with its new location tag- Assam, much to the photographer's confusion.
Bengaluru based photographer Karthik Rugvedi G R too faced a similar issue when one of his clicks of a tiger sitting infront of a bus, taken inside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in 2015 surfaced on various platforms with incorrect captions and locations.
"It was in 2015 inside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve on the road that connects to Kerala. The tiger was sitting on the road and I started taking photographs. It was sitting on the road for over 20 minutes even after the bus arrived and stopped. After few minutes the tiger moved inside the woods. I cherish this as among my best photographs in the wild," Rugvedi explained.
Wildlife photographer Umesh G E suggests that the pictures should have water mark and photographers must be aware about the legal aid that can come handy in case their pictures are wrongly used.
"It's difficult to control the viral of pictures on social media platforms. But the photographers can be more cautious before sharing anything without credits to their names," he said.