An image circulating in July 2026 authentically showed surveillance footage of a gorilla named Julius screaming for help after his human caretaker collapsed.
In the summer of 2026, social media users circulated an image supposedly showing surveillance footage of a gorilla screaming for help after his “favorite caretaker” collapsed while giving the animal belly rubs.
The image — which appeared to be a collage of two surveillance footage stills, one before and one after the caretaker, supposedly named Julius, collapsed — and associated story spread on Facebook and Instagram. Snopes readers contacted us to ask whether it was an authentic image of a gorilla and his caretaker or a digital creation.
(Facebook user Rey Arcillo)
The above image was generated using artificial intelligence, according to a generative artificial intelligence detection tool built by Open AI, the company behind ChatGPT.
The OpenAI detection tool uses SynthID — an invisible digital watermark — to determine whether an image was created using the company’s tools. As we have previously reported, SynthID isn’t perfect, but it’s largely credible. Additional evidence indicated that the image was generated using AI, such as distortions near the man’s armpit and the gorilla’s foot.
(Facebook user StoryTime, illustrated by Snopes)
(Facebook user StoryTime, illustrated by Snopes)
As such, we have rated the image as a fake.
The image and associated story appeared to originate with a July 20 post from StoryTime, a social media account on Facebook. When we first fact-checked this post in July, a reverse image search found no evidence the alleged footage came from a legitimate animal sanctuary. Searches of Google, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo also returned no reputable news reports or news releases from credible animal sanctuaries about this supposed gorilla and caretaker named Julius.
If the scene in the image had occurred, journalists with reputable news outlets would have documented it. We did not locate any examples of credible outlets publishing the image, nor reporting about the alleged scene.
The image also included timestamps common on screenshots of surveillance footage — but credible surveillance footage is almost never as high quality as the picture of the fake gorilla.
Snopes has previously debunked many of StoryTime’s fake, AI-generated stories about animals, such as a December 2025 claim that a mother bear and cub rescued a lost girl in Alaska. As of this writing, StoryTime is also on Instagram under the handle @lovingcreaturez.
We contacted the account on Instagram to confirm that it created the image and ask why it did so without providing a disclaimer to note the image’s inauthenticity. We will update this story if we receive a response.
The fictional story about Julius and the gorilla resembled glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as “stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental.” The story circulating online also had few details and was missing both the gorilla’s name and the name of the supposed animal sanctuary, which further indicated that it was not real.
Creators of such content profit off of social media users’ willingness to believe and share the made-up stories and images. In this case, the StoryTime pages included a link to an online shop with merchandise related to its tall tales.
For more fact-checks examining AI-generated stories about animals, see our collection of 20 related stories. We also have a guide for spotting AI fakes.
