The “world’s oldest tree” was not cut down accidentally by loggers in the Amazon forest.
fake news website, World News Daily Report, is saying otherwise, however.
Here’s the disclaimer for the bogus site: “WNDR assumes however 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 persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.”
The world’s oldest tree isn’t located in the Amazon rainforest. It’s actually a Great Basin bristlecone pine located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and is about 5,000 years old. And there’s tree colonies that are tens of thousands of years old.
The bunk article had tens of thousands of shares on Facebook as of Wednesday.
“This is clearly intentional… the death of such a Tree is shattering to say the least and the effects are beyond the understanding of many …. but not all ..For many generations, the Mother tree has brought my people health and good fortune. The roots of the Mother tree spread throughout the rainforest and bring its life spirit to the world,” one person wrote in the site’s comments section.
Added another: “I would like to express my revulsion @ this inane act of criminal vandalism ! At the same time I think that loss must be turned into a positive as best we can.”
Here’s what part of the World News Daily Report article said:
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 they were logging deeply in Matsés Indigenous Reserve, an area were logging is illegal, infuriating local conservation organizations and native indigenous communities.
The giant Samauma tree that is thought to be over 5,800 years old judging on its concentric rings and estimated to be close to 40 meters in height was a major part of the native tribes cultural landscape, countless generations of natives having witnessed the long duration of the tree and having included it in their own culture.
