Fact Check

Is this a Photograph of a Black Lion?

This species should be particularly adept at night-time hunting.

Published June 17, 2012

Claim:
A photograph captures a rare black lion.

An image of a black lion has been widely reposted on Facebook, typically accompanied by messages imploring viewers to "Like" the large feline (e.g., "How many likes for him?").

However, this picture is a nothing more than a digital fabrication which was originally posted to the deviantART website back in March of 2012 and is simply a color-manipulated image of an uncommon but decidedly real white lion:

Another purported photograph of a "black lion" also gained widespread currency online:

Once again, however, this was simply a stock image of an ordinary lion which was colored black and posted to the deviantART website by the same user back in 2012:

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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