Video Of Lion Not Attacking Man Asleep On The Pavement Is AI-Generated

An AI-generated video of a lion sniffing a man asleep on a pavement and then walking away without attacking him is viral as a real incident in Gujarat, India.

BOOM confirmed that the video is fake and generated using AI.

The Claim

The video, made to look like a CCTV footage is viral with text, "A street surveillance clip from India has gone viral, showing a lion calmly approaching a man sleeping on the sidewalk, sniffing him briefly, then walking away into the dark."

Click here to view one such post and here for an archive.

What We Found: Video Is AI Generated

1. Video Uploaded By YouTube Channel With Other AI Videos

We ran a reverse image search on the video keyframes and found a longer version of the same uploaded to a channel 'The world of beasts' on YouTube. The channel's bio in Portuguese says, "AI-assisted designs" and has similar videos of animals, all created using AI. Additionally, the original upload had a disclaimer added by the creator, "Sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated."

A longer version of the video, uploaded to the YouTube channel on June 7, 2025, can be seen here.

2. Text On Shop Boards

We analysed the longer video and found several inconsistencies in the names of the shops seen and the body shape of the man asleep on the pavement. The letters on the signboards purportedly resembled Devanagari and Gujarati, but do not translate to any real words from both the languages. We also used Google Lens to detect the language, but it was unable to identify it. The man's body in the video also appears to be contorted. We also found that the visuals were mirrored in the longer version of the video.

3. Results From AI Detection Tool

We also reached out to the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), which specialises in detecting artificially generated content. They tested the video using the AI detection tool Was It AI, which concluded that a significant portion of the video was AI-generated.