No, animals didn’t escape from a New Jersey zoo after Hurricane Ida
Screenshots of satirical tweets about escaped zoo animals have gone viral out of context in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. They are from a parody Twitter account that appropriates CNN’s name and logo. Let’s take a look at the facts.
Animals did not escape from Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey, after remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the area.
The account that shared this tweet is not affiliated with CNN and is not a legitimate news source.
It’s a parody account.
Turtle Back Zoo and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr., both confirmed that no animals escaped the zoo during the storms on Sept. 1.
Other instances of this rumor circulated as screenshots of fabricated text messages.
NewsLit takeaway
Rumors of wild animals infiltrating flooded cities after major storms are common — so much so that some have achieved joke-meme status online. Cases of “stolen satire,” in which joke posts and satirical graphics are copied and circulated out of context, are also common. Be sure to fact-check sensational claims in the wake of major events like natural disasters before sharing.
Resources
- “Lateral Reading” tutorial and reverse image search tutorial (NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom).
Featured Fact-Checks
- “Fact check: Viral posts falsely claim animals escaped zoo in New Jersey amid Ida”(McKenzie Sadeghi, USA Today).
- “Animals didn’t escape zoo in NJ storm” (Ali Swenson, The Associated Press).
- “Fact Check-Text message claiming that zoo animals in New Jersey escaped during Storm Ida is fake” (Reuters Fact Check).