Fact Check: Viral video showing a drunk man giving alcohol to a tiger is not real, it is AI-generated

Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with hypertension, coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke, and haemorrhagic stroke. It is also a significant risk factor for various types of cancer. Alcohol consumption often results in road accidents, behavioural changes, and acts of violence. Overdrinking leads to higher healthcare costs, loss of income, and eventually causes economic burden. It can result in financial difficulties, and it affects not only the individual but also their family members, including children.

A video has gone viral on social media, including on X . It claims that a 52-year-old labourer, while heavily intoxicated, entered the Pench Tiger Reserve, mistook a tiger for a cat, petted its head, and offered his liquor bottle to it. The posts claimed that the entire incident was captured on CCTV.

Some social media users are also claiming that this incident occurred in Bengal.

"In a drunken state, a man mistook a big tiger for a cat and tried to pet it lovingly. A few moments later, the tiger walked back into the forest. Incident in Bengal. Video goes viral."

"On October 4, 2025, in Pench, India, a CCTV camera recorded an unusual moment. A 52-year-old labourer named Raju Patel, under the influence of alcohol, mistook a tiger for a cat at midnight. When a small Bengal tiger from the nearby Pench Tiger Reserve entered the street, he greeted it as if it were a domestic animal."

"The 150-200 kg animal was wandering through the streets for several hours, creating panic among villagers who locked their doors in fear. When the tiger approached Raju, he muttered, ‘Cat, move aside,’ and gently patted its head. Later, forest officers arrived with spotlights and tranquiliser guns. The exhausted tiger was guided back into the forest by 3 am. No one was harmed. This was not an act of heroism, but a bizarre incident in an area already witnessing rising human-tiger conflicts. The video, timestamped 2025-10-04 10:00, went viral soon after."

A screen shot of the viral post shared on X showing the claim is included below. Archived links of the viral posts were used to preserve the evidence.

Fact Check:

Our investigation found that there is no truth in the viral claim. The video being circulated online was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is not an authentic CCTV recording.

As part of our verification process, we performed a reverse image search, checked for official statements, and examined news reports from credible organisations. We found no authentic reports from any credible news outlet or any forest department officer confirming the occurrence of such an incident.

The video in question is only about six seconds long, which corresponds to the default video duration of most AI video generators. Visual anomalies in the clip such as inconsistent lighting, unrealistic reflections, and smooth surface movements further indicate that it is not a genuine CCTV recording. Real CCTV footage generally contains background noise, camera shaking, and irregular lighting due to environmental factors.

Further searches led us to a report published by Bhaskar English which stated that forest officials had declared the video fake. The report said that the video shows a man hitting the tiger’s head and offering it alcohol, but officials confirmed that the footage was not real.

According to the Bhaskar English report, Raju Patel, a 52-year-old labourer from a village near the Pench Tiger Reserve, was shown in the video as mistaking a tiger for a cat while drunk, petting it on the head, and offering it liquor. The video began spreading rapidly on social media and caught public attention.

However, Rajnish Kumar Singh, the Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve, clarified that the viral video was fake. He also stated that such behaviour in forest areas is extremely dangerous and that the forest department discourages and warns villagers against such actions. He pointed out that there have been several cases of human-tiger conflict in the Pench region in recent months. Singh emphasised that there is no truth in the viral video and called for an investigation into the source of the clip.

We also analysed the video using the Hive Moderation deepfake detection tool. The analysis confirmed that the keyframes in the video were generated using Artificial Intelligence.
A screenshot of the deepfake detection analysis is included below.

The claim that an intoxicated man fed liquor to a tiger inside the Pench Tiger Reserve is completely false. The video circulating on social media is AI-generated and not genuine CCTV footage. No such incident occurred in Pench or any part of India.