A video has recently caused a stir on social media. It shows a child walking along a field path with an animal in her arms and a porcupine walking behind. Many social media users claim the animal in the child's arms is a civet, but the claim has sparked a new debate and mystery.

Investigation suggests the animal in the video may not be a civet after all; it is more likely a cat. It is now the subject of heated discussion online.

In the viral video the animal cannot be clearly identified from a distance. Many Facebook users are sharing it as a rare civet, but closer observation brings out different information. There is no evidence of a civet at the girl's home, and there are no such photos or videos on Facebook or any other social media.

Instead, the girl has several pet cats, one of which has exactly the same colouring as the animal in the video. This has convinced some social media users that the animal in the viral video was in fact a cat.

According to the fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner, a Sri Lankan man named Prabhat Silva first shared the video on Facebook on 12 June. The Sinhala caption said: "Little brother going to kuburu with his sister."

Several more videos and photos of the same child and animals were found on Prabhat Silva's profile. Most of the videos feature the pet porcupine, and the cats appear in some, but no civet is seen in any photo or video.

In other words, the animal in the girl's arms in the viral video is most likely her grey pet cat.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.