Akron Zoo Debunks Viral Lion-Escape Rumor: The Circulating Photo Was AI-Generated and Its Lions Are Safe

The Akron Zoo in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, took to social media on November 7 to dispel a viral rumor: claims that its African lions had escaped their enclosure are false, and all of its lions remain safely in their habitat. The zoo said the rumor mill even included a purported photo of an escaped lion that was AI-generated.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the zoo said it did hold a drill on Wednesday, November 4, involving the Akron police and fire departments, to prepare and practice for a variety of potential emergencies at the zoo. It was just a drill; no lion got out.

"Our lions remain in the safety of their habitat," the zoo said in its statement. The paper listed the zoo's resident African lions as Mandisa, Donovan, Kataba and Msinga.

The episode followed a familiar pattern for viral social posts: an AI-generated "escaped lion" image, combined with word of the drill held days earlier, spread online as if it were a real event until the zoo itself stepped in to correct the record. GSM is not republishing the AI image and reports only the zoo's statement and local coverage of the debunking.

Source: Akron Zoo

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 阿克伦动物园的非洲狮资料图（Sgerbic摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons；非本次事件图，疯传的AI图片未转载）