This story was first published on December 10, 2014
Outline
Circulating ‘news’ report claims that illegal loggers have mistakenly cut down the world’s oldest tree in the Amazon Rainforest.
Brief Analysis
The report is fiction. It hails from the fake-news website World News Daily Report, which considers itself satirical. Nothing published on World News Daily Report has any credibility and the site’s material should not be taken seriously
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Loggers Accidentally Cut Down World’s Oldest Tree in Amazon Forest
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 ….
Detailed Analysis
According to a report that is circulating rapidly via social media and email, illegal loggers working near the Peruvian and Brazilian border have mistakenly cut down the world’s oldest tree.
Supposedly, the loggers did not realize they were working in an Amazon Indigenous reserve and cut down a giant Samauma tree that was estimated to be over 5,800 years old.
The story is causing a good deal of angst and outrage as it travels.
However, the claims in the story are untrue. There are no credible reports that support the claims in the message.
The story comes from the fake-news ‘satirical’ website World News Daily Report (WNDR). None of the stories published on the site is valid and its material should not be taken seriously.
WNDR displays the following disclaimer at the bottom of its articles:
World News Daily Report assumes 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 person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.
Despite the disclaimer, many people believe the information published on the site and pass it on in good faith.
The image used in the story was taken from earlier reports discussing deforestation in the Amazon.
Of course, trees can reach quite amazing ages with one spruce tree in Sweden thought to be around 9,550 years old. Other trees around the world are also thousands of years old.
Deforestation is a very serious issue, but spreading nonsensical reports about it will do no good. Many fake-news ‘satire’ websites have appeared in recent years. Between them, they churn out an endless stream of nonsense, much of which is shared via Facebook and other social media sites.
It is thus wise to verify any ‘news’ stories that come your way before you share them. It is normally quite easy to check a circulating story by searching online.
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/fake-news-report-claims-loggers-have-cut-down-worlds-oldest-tree/