Viral image of puppy snuggling baby elephant created with artificial intelligence

Have you ever scrolled through social media and stumbled upon an adorable image of a baby animal? Have you ever wondered if the image was real or just too cute to be true?

VERIFY reader Blanca emailed us this adorable picture of a puppy and baby elephant hugging and asked if the image was real. 

THE QUESTION

Is the image of a baby elephant and puppy hugging real?

THE SOURCES

• VERIFY analysis of the image
• Hive, an AI detection tool
• International Fund for Animal Welfare
• American Kennel Club
• RevEye, a reverse image search tool
• 2015 video from Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park
• Search of images from National Geographic

THE ANSWER

No, the image of a baby elephant and puppy hugging isn’t real. The image was created using artificial intelligence. 

WHAT WE FOUND

The image sent to VERIFY showing a puppy and a baby elephant is not real and was created using artificial intelligence. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce new content, including images, videos, audio and text based on a prompt.

To confirm that this image was created with AI, VERIFY conducted a reverse image search and found no other reputable sources sharing the same image online. One X post from April 17 with the image credits National Geographic for the photo, but we searched National Geographic’s website and did not find any evidence this photo was ever captured by a National Geographic photographer.  VERIFY reached out to National Geographic for comment and did not hear back at the time of publication.

The first red flag in the AI-generated photo is that the puppy and elephant appear to be the same size, which is highly unlikely. 

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, newborn Asian elephant calves weigh about 200 to 250 pounds. Baby African elephants also weigh about 200 pounds. 

Most golden retrievers, on the other hand, weigh between 65 and 95 pounds when they are full-grown, the American Kennel Club says. The dog appears to be a golden retriever in the AI image. 

To compare what an actual baby elephant would look like next to a dog, Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park posted this video in 2015 of baby elephant Yindee playing with a dog named Milo. Yindee is much bigger.

We also found other red flags that point to an AI-generated image. 

Some of the puppy’s features, like its left eye, are distorted. The ear on the elephant appears too small and is roughly the same size as the puppy’s ear. 

The texture of the puppy’s fur also appears inconsistent – the lower half looks wet or matted while the ear and head are smooth and fine. Inconsistencies with texture is a key sign of artificial intelligence.

Hive, an AI detection tool, said there’s a 100% likelihood that this image was created with a generative AI tool.

The AI image of the puppy and elephant has a name credit burned on the image with the name “Aysel Raif.” We found a private Instagram profile that bears that name. The account’s Instagram profile picture is an artificial intelligence image with the same watermark. VERIFY was unable to confirm if this Instagram user created the image of the elephant and puppy. We attempted to follow the user and reach them via messenger, but were not able to get in touch at the time of publication.