There’s nothing like watching two apex predators battle it out—and this video gives you that in spades. According to DNP India, it shows a crocodile clashing with a python. Fair warning: it’s brutal.
The clip was originally posted on Instagram by Dev Shrestha, who often shares viral clips of giant snakes in Asia. It appears to have been filmed in someone’s backyard next to a concrete pool. It’s not clear if one or both of the reptiles in the footage were wild or kept in captivity. Watching the video, it almost doesn’t matter.
The footage begins with the crocodile lunging and biting the body of the python—which looks like it is easily over 6 feet long. The crocodile shakes its snout back and forth, thrashing the snake. The snake tries in vain to bite the croc back, before attempting to wrap part of its body around the big reptile’s head. But the crocodile continues violently thrashing back and forth, and it quickly becomes clear that it has the upper hand in the bout. The video ends with the snake lying mostly limp in the crocodile’s jaws.
Though the location of this particular video hasn’t been disclosed, it’s far from the first time a crocodile or alligator has faced off with a large constrictor snake—and sometimes, the snake wins. For instance, in 2022, Field & Stream reported on a team of researchers that cut a 5-foot alligator out of the body of an 18-foot invasive python in South Florida.
Here are several other videos showing reptilian heavyweights going at it. You’re welcome.