MindaNews fact-checked a post on Facebook that a giant axolotl was spotted and captured in Barangay Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City. The claim is fake.
On July 26, Facebook page BOHOL VIRAL posted that an unidentified creature was found in Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City. It stated:
“Kakuyaw na lang jud sa panahon
The post reads “NAKUHA KINING HAPON SA DUHA KA MANANAGAT DIDTO SA GUSA CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, WLA TA KABALO UG USA BANI KA SIGN NGA NAAY BAGYO MAHITABO OR NAA BAI DELIKADO MAHITABO
MAO NANG AMPO RAJUD TA SIGE NGA WALAY MAHITABO.”
(Translation:
“The situation is now really frightening.
This afternoon in Gusa, Cagayan de Oro, two fishermen caught this creature. It could be a sign of approaching storms or another disaster. Let’s pray that nothing happens.”)
As of August 5, the BOHOL VIRAL post has garnered at least 1.3k reactions, 1.4k comments, and at least 9.1k shares.
Another post by Daily Mindanao had much larger engagement. It was captioned “The biggest AXOLOTL ever found!? 🫨”
As of August 5, the Daily Mindanao post garnered at least 14k reactions, 2.4k comments, and 12k shares. The posts remain online and have not, so far, been debunked anywhere else, according to a reverse image search.
On Facebook, it has not yet received a fact-check tag, which means some viewers could still be fooled into believing the AI-generated images.
According to comments of netizens, the strange creature appears to be a giant axolotl, an endangered amphibian species native to places like Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in Mexico.
However, a real life axolotl reaches a length of only up to 18 inches.
Henry A. Adornado, director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Region 10, confirmed that there was no axolotl caught in the region.
“Please be informed that the said species is endemic in Lake Xochimilco, Mexico City with a conservation status of endangered species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),” he said in a statement sent to MindaNews on August 3.
“Thus, per records of this office, no person holds a legal permit to possess an axolotl, nor has any sighting been reported within the area of responsibility of Region 10,” he added.
Adornado encouraged the public to remain vigilant and report any possible illegal wildlife activities to the nearest DENR Office.
MindaNews fact-checked the photos by triangulating on various sources.
First, we sampled all of the three photos through Google’s reverse image search and found that these images have appeared in various sources online.
We also conducted searches through different AI-detection tools, such as Hugging Face, Illuminarty, Content Scale, and AI or Not. Across these tools, the images were found to be likely AI-generated.
However, the original source of the image could not be determined.
A scientist from the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) also said the sighting was improbable.
In a phone interview August 2, UPMin wildlife biologist Prof. Lief Erikson Gamalo said there was no scientific evidence of the sighting.
“In the Philippines, axolotl sightings are due to the pet trade,” Gamalo told MindaNews. “And even then, axolotls are tiny by comparison [to the fake image].”
He said that the size of the species was unrealistic.
Gamalo detailed the scientific community’s process for verifying new discoveries, emphasizing the importance of peer-reviewed journal publications over social media claims.
“The usual process is to publish the findings and document the distribution in different areas,” he said. “Social media posts are unreliable.”
He said, however, that there are times that scientists announce findings online.
When asked about the likelihood of such a species existing in the Philippines, Gamalo clearly stated that based on the concept of species distribution, axolotls are endemic to Mexico.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
