By Abdullahi Lukman
A fabricated image showing an orangutan cradling endangered leopard cubs in Malaysia has highlighted growing concerns over AI-generated wildlife content and its potential impact on conservation.
The image is among a growing number of synthetic wildlife visuals circulating on Facebook, TikTok and X, often accompanied by emotional stories and shared in multiple languages. Other false examples have depicted an elephant climbing a tree to escape flooding in Myanmar and a pink dolphin jumping from the sea in the Philippines.
Wildlife experts warn that realistic images portraying wild animals behaving like humans or domesticated pets can create dangerous misconceptions and encourage people to approach wildlife.
Jose Guerrero-Casado, a zoology professor at Spain’s University of Cordoba, said such misinformation could lead people to interact with wild animals at unsafe distances. He pointed to a January incident in China’s Xinjiang region in which a woman was attacked by a rare snow leopard after approaching it for a photograph.
Conservationists also fear that repeated exposure to idealized or fabricated wildlife images could increase demand for wild animals as tourist photo props, social media attractions or exotic pets.
Chris Lewis of Born Free said such content could contribute to the exploitation of wildlife, while Jenny Roberts of WWF warned that it could also undermine public trust in genuine conservation imagery. She said authentic photographs and videos of rare wildlife are increasingly questioned as people become accustomed to AI-generated content.
Researchers have further warned that manipulated wildlife images could undermine scientific research, particularly citizen-science projects that rely on photographs and recordings submitted by the public. A study published in Conservation Biology described the spread of AI-generated environmental misinformation as a major threat and raised concerns about its effect on people’s ability to identify species and understand their distribution.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and TikTok require users to label realistic AI-generated or significantly altered content and say they have automated systems for identifying such material. However, fact-checkers have continued to find wildlife posts without clear AI labels.
Experts say stronger authentication of wildlife submissions and greater public awareness of manipulated content are needed to protect both conservation efforts and public safety.
“Conservation depends on a well-informed society,” Guerrero-Casado said, warning that fabricated AI wildlife content does not support that goal.
