A huge water python devoured a fresh water crocodile after an epic battle witnessed by dozens of people in Australia.
The pair battled it out at Lake Moondarra near Mount Isa over the weekend.
A load of people who were taking a break from canoeing witnessed the scene, including mother Tiffany Corlis.
‘‘[The crocodile] was fighting at the start, so it was trying to keep its head out of water and survive,’’ she told ABC North West Queensland Radio. "But as the morning sort of progressed, you could tell that both of them were getting a little weaker. Finally, the croc sort of gave in and the snake had uncoiled for a little while and had a brief break and then actually started to consume the crocodile.’’
Bryan Fry, a snake expert with the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Science, said that water pythons target a range of prey, such as small rodents, but small fresh water crocodiles were still easy to capture.
“Crocs are more dangerous to catch but easier to sneak up on,’’ he told the Brisbane Times.
‘‘Up in Kakadu, for example, they feed heavily on small rodents but that’s not to say they won’t take the crocs as well. The problem is they are risking being injured or killed, so they have to be judicious.’’
“It was just unbelievable,” Corlis said. “We were sort of thinking that the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew.
“But it did. It actually ate the crocodile. When you actually looked at the snake, you could actually see the crocodile’s ridges, legs and everything inside its belly,”
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