By Rex Mphisa
POLICE at Beitbridge have initiated investigations to establish the origins of fake artificial intelligence (AI) generated images of lions purported to be on the loose in urban Beitbridge.
In an interview Tuesday the officer commanding Beitbridge Police District Chief Superintendent Mesuli Ncube confirmed police were keen to bring to book originators of the images.
“They are causing unnecessary panic. It is not something we can ignore and experts are on the way to assist in this investigation,” he said.
“Yes we do have lions on the loose but for people to fake these images and circulate them is commiting an offence,” he said.
Some people have been circulating images of lions crossing the centre of town at the traffic lights controlled intersection near the old Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) old camp now housing different government departments and Lotsha FM.
The other image has three lions while another has five with two cubs and the third one has a man walking alongside those images.
There are other several audios circulating on Beitbridge social media platforms including another one claiming the lions had been seen near the container depot close to the border post.
Ncube also dismissed an aerial video footage captured by a drone of what appears like five animals looking like lions captured near the old border post.
“Those are dogs captured by a drone. One must have been on heat and those dogs are following that female, they are all dogs,” he said.
Beitbridge residents are on high alert after some lions entered the country from Kruger National Park in South Africa.