Real or AI? · Latest checks · Checked 3 October 2026

A tiny deer squares up to a rhino in a snowy zoo enclosure: real or AI?

Short answer: this is real. The evidence is set out below.

Zoo Wrocław (filmed by keeper Kamil Guzik). Shown in a post on X by @donald_PL_ · Shown as an embedded post · Source

The answer: it is real

Zoo Wrocław in Poland posted this clip on 8 January 2026. It shows Maruśka, an Indian rhinoceros, and a male Chinese muntjac, a small kind of deer. The zoo said one of its keepers filmed it. Some people online said it was AI, but Snopes checked it in September 2026 and rated it true.

The tells

The stone wall, the metal fence and the trees stay the same as the camera follows the animals. The snow is trampled and patchy, as real ground would be. The rhino's skin folds and the deer's thin legs keep their shape all the way through. Nothing melts, stretches or vanishes.

How we know

• Published fact-check: Snopes, 22 September 2026
• Original source: Zoo Wrocław article naming the keeper who filmed it, 12 January 2026

We only use a picture in the game when its origin is proven. Read how we check.

How to check something like this yourself

1. Find the first upload. Take a screenshot of a clear frame and run it through a reverse image search, or search a few words describing the clip with the name of the platform. Look for the earliest copy and read its caption.
2. Pause it, again and again. AI video tends to go wrong between frames: objects change shape, people merge, writing swims.
3. Check the length and the sound. Very short clips with stock-sounding audio, or no natural sound at all, deserve a closer look.
4. Look for a fact-check. Search the main claim with the words “fact check”. Anything widely shared has usually been looked at.

A real picture can look fake. Odd light, unusual lenses and heavy compression all make genuine images seem wrong, which is why the source matters more than the look. See real photos people swear are fake.

Full guide: How to spot an AI video.

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