Loggers Cut Down World’s Oldest Tree – Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Illegal loggers in the Amazon forest accidentally cut down the world’s oldest tree.
The Truth:
Illegal loggers didn’t cut down the world’s oldest tree.
The eRumor traces back to a fake news report filed by the website World News Daily Report:
“Illegal loggers at the frontier of the Peruvian and Brazilian border have mistakenly cut down what experts claim is the world’s oldest tree after allegedly not noticing they were logging deeply in Matsés Indigenous Reserve, an area where logging is illegal, infuriating local conservation organizations and native indigenous communities.”
The false report was shared more than 280,000 times on Facebook drew outrage from a number of users like this one:
“I would like to express my revulsion @ this inane act of criminal vandalism! At the same time I think that loss must be turned into a positive as best we can! I would like to receive a remnant of this spirit tree no matter how big perhaps some sort of fund to further protect the Amazon rain forest could be established and collected by the Matses people thru the sale of the remains and designated to their struggle!”
However, World News Daily is a fake news website, according to its own disclaimer:
“WNDR assumes however all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.”
In reality, the world’s oldest tree is likely located in North America, not South America.