(Photo: Reuters//Markus Gilliar/Pool)
Christian Post Report – Lions are pictured in Lion Park in Lanseria, northwest of Johannesburg, during a visit there by the members of the German national soccer team, June 25, 2010.
A story that claimed a self-described Christian prophet was critically injured after challenging lions to a fight at a national park in South Africa to prove God’s protection has gone viral on social media, but a website that exposes false reporting has found it to be a hoax.
A “prophet” from a Zion Christian Church, identified as Pretoria Soshanguve-based Alec Ndiwane, was filled with the Holy Spirit when he challenged lions to fight in the Kruger National Park, Daily Post reported earlier during the week.
According to the story, Ndiwane was visiting the park with fellow church members when he suddenly “went into a trance” and began speaking in tongues. Then, he charged at the lions nearby, it went on to claim, and added that he sough to run back to safety soon after being attacked by the lions. He was finally saved by rangers, the story alleged.
The report, which carried a quote from the “prophet” narrating what he did, never happened, Africa Check, which sorts fact from fiction, found.
The story was republished by several newspapers around the world and shared widely on social media.
The park’s spokesman William Mabasa told Africa Check that while he knows about the story going viral, the alleged incident was never reported to the park authorities.
“The Kruger National Park is not aware of any such incident taking place anywhere in the park. It would have been reported to us if any of our rangers had taken part in this incident as reported,” he was quoted as saying.
Some stories also carried a picture of a man kneeling with his head on the ground with two lions jumping at him.
Africa Check also found that the man in the picture was South African “lion whisperer” Kevin Richardson, whose wife Mandy confirmed it was her husband’s photo. “He is a Christian but not part of the ZCC church group,” she was quoted as saying.
It was bad journalism by newspapers who carried the report without verifying the source.
“The relationship you see there is from years of working with the lionesses enabling him to trust them to run and jump and play with him. It was not by any means an attack.” she continued. “He would not do this with animals he doesn’t know and especially not wild animals as that would be dangerous and irresponsible.”
Source : Christian Post