Amazing photos capture the moment a crocodile snares its prey
WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: An amazing series of photos has been shared of a crocodile catching and eating a turtle in the Northern Territory.
Photographer Tissa Ratnayeke snapped pictures of a large adult freshwater crocodile up on the bank with a yellow-faced turtle in its mouth.
The pictures were taken at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve east of Darwin over the Easter long weekend.
“I was able to approach within a few metres of it and watch,” Mr Ratnayeke wrote on Facebook.
“Over the next several minutes the crocodile proceeded to toss the turtle around in its mouth, chomping down on it firmly, resulting in loud crunching and shattering of the shell - it all seemed effortless.”
The photographer added he was surprised there were no visible cuts on the croc’s mouth or jaws from the “large fragments of shell”.
“The crocodile had many broken/fractured teeth, some browning with age which makes me suspect turtles are a regular part of the diet - fortunately for crocs, unlike us their damaged teeth are replaced by new ones,” Mr Ratnayeke wrote.
“I had been watching for six minutes, the shell was shattered but the turtle was still in one mangled piece, the croc raised its head high and swallowed the whole thing in a couple of gulps before quietly sliding backwards into the water.”
He later added he’s visited the area many times over the years but it’s the first time he’s seen a freshwater crocodile munching on a turtle.
Others were also stunned by the pics.
“What fortune to be there in that moment to witness this,” one woman wrote.
Another simply added the pics were “amazing”.
A snake was snapped trying to escape the mouth of an alligator last week.
Last month pictures emerged showing a monster shark trying to eat a giant sea turtle.
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