Is the Kyle Thomas sloth bear video real? Viral death claim debunked

British TikToker Kyle Thomas is going viral after a video of a sloth bear attack started circulating on the internet. In it, the sloth bear, also known as the Indian bear, is seen brutally attacking a man in a zoo.

As the man lay on the ground, slightly moving, the people observing screamed. A few gunshots could be heard, seemingly from dart guns. Various internet users reuploaded the clip, claiming that the man mauled was allegedly Kyle Thomas. Soon, rumors spread that the 21-year-old had supposedly passed away from the attack.

The viral sloth bear attack video is false, as the man in it is not Kyle Thomas. The social media personality is alive and uploading content on his accounts. The video is from 2022, when a man was attacked in a forest area in the Tenkasi district, Tamil Nadu, India.

More details on Kyle Thomas

The content creator is originally from Kent. However, he has permanently moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Thomas started posting content in 2019, when he was 15 years old. Initially, he grew his audience by creating various types of content, including food reviews, dancing, comedic skits, his daily life, and lip-sync videos.

Kyle Thomas became massively popular in the UK when he started making videos of his pets, as initially he had 25 of them. He is now known for making content on animal rescue. As of now, he has over 1.3 million followers on Instagram and nearly 35 million followers on TikTok.

Thomas is an ambassador for Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, and the non-profit organization for animals, Jane Goodall Institute UK. He has also appeared on numerous television interviews, talking about his life and love for animals.

According to The Sun's September 26, 2024, report, the influencer appeared on two BBC documentaries with his mother: the 2023 documentary The Exotic Pet Crisis: Truth Behind The TikTok Stars and We Build a Zoo, released in 2024.

Thomas also published his first graphic novel titled Guardian of the Realm, which tells the story of Kyle and his pet meercat, Mylo, and his adventures with magical creatures. It was released in 2022.

In 2023, Kyle Thomas and his mother, Zena Foord, were heavily scrutinized for their pet capybara. It was reported that Zena got the capybara from a pet shop. The owner, Michael Dickinson, arranged it to be transported from Cambridgeshire to Northern Ireland.

After getting the pet in Northern Ireland, Kyle named it Queen Elizabeth, and made content with it. It is to be noted that capybaras are considered dangerous in Northern Ireland, and the TikToker's family needed a license to own it.

Zena Foord received a two-year conditional discharge, and the shop owner and his assistant were convicted of smuggling the capybara. After some time, Kyle Thomas shared with his followers that his pet had passed away.

This news prompted netizens to question his and his mother's decision to raise multiple exotic pets. However, Kyle's mother has told news outlets that they never did anything wrong with their pets and took care of them.

Zena also claimed that they had to look after the animals as they were allegedly being killed and poisoned. Notably, Zena's claims have not been verified.

Stay tuned for more updates on Kyle Thomas.