Back to Africa Check

Fence missing, but sheep still follow sheep through gate? No life lesson here

A graphic posted on Facebook shows an aerial photo of a huge herd of sheep moving through a gate, pressed in a single straight line on either side.

“A herd of sheep is leaving the stall,” the text reads. “There is no fence, only the gate ...”

It adds: “The trap of thinking.”

Does the photo really show sheep unthinkingly following other sheep through a gate where there is no fence?



The bigger picture


Africa Check cropped the photo out of the graphic and uploaded it to TinEye’s reverse image search. This led us to the website of Australian photographer Scott Bridle.

A much larger version of the photo is in Bridle’s archives, simply described as “Brenda Station”. It was snapped in 2012.

A fence and fence poles are clearly visible in the larger photo. The sheep could only move through the gate.

The photo appeared on the cover of the October-November 2012 edition of Australia’s Outback magazine, and can be seen on Bridle’s Facebook page with the description: “BHP Billiton Cannington Waltzing Matilda Photographic Prize 3rd Prize – ‘Brenda Station’.” – Africa Check




 

Republish our content for free

We believe that everyone needs the facts.

You can republish the text of this article free of charge, both online and in print. However, we ask that you pay attention to these simple guidelines. In a nutshell:

1. Do not include images, as in most cases we do not own the copyright.

2. Please do not edit the article.

3. Make sure you credit "Africa Check" in the byline and don't forget to mention that the article was originally published on africacheck.org.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.