Sending animated GIFs with sendPhoto (Telegram bot)

use sendVideo method!

https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/sendVideo?chat_id=<chat_id>&video=http://i.giphy.com/13IC4LVeP5NGNi.gif

this will work

You should use the sendAnimation method for sending a GIF or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video without sound.
Just use the animation parameter for your GIF file.

sendPhoto is only used for static images.