AI-generated video of Lion storms into South African grocery store Misleads online

A video allegedly showing a lion helping itself to the meat section of a grocery store in South Africa has been viewed millions of times across social media.

However, this is false: the footage was generated using artificial intelligence (AI). The video shows clear characteristics of AI-generated content and the original poster identified it as having been made with AI.

“WILD LION STORMS INTO GROCERY STORE IN SOUTH AFRICA,” reads the caption of an X post published on June 14, 2025.

The 70-second clip shows two different scenes of a lion devouring meat straight from the meat section in a supermarket. A man is also seen running out of the store after attempting to approach the animal.

The owner of the X account describes himself as a South African based in the United States.

Similar posts have also been shared thousands of times on Facebook and liked more than one million times on Instagram.

But claims that the video shows a real lion eating meat in a South African store are false.

For example, six seconds into the video, the lion’s tail briefly fades and disappears before reappearing.

At 28 seconds, a shape that looks like an extra foot suddenly materialises out of nowhere by the lion’s hind legs. When the lion moves, it then morphs into something that looks more like a piece of meat.

At 48 seconds, a visual effect that looks like water drops appears in front of the meat display and changes some of the meat packs into different shapes. This is especially noticeable in the bottom-left corner.

Three seconds later, a roll of ham on the floor starts moving before the lion touches it.

Although the video of the lion was fabricated, wild animals do occasionally escape from wildlife reserves or wander onto the streets in South Africa. For example, four lions got loose from Kruger National Park in April 2025, and more recently, an elephant seal wandered inland in May.