Horror pics capture the moment a deadly crocodile eats a tortoise in one go after playing football with it
The unfortunate leopard tortoise was flung into the air like a football as the hungry crocodiles toyed with it before one of them gobbled it in one go.
Pass the croc-ery … Deadly reptile gulped down tortoise whole
Images of the messy meal were taken by part time photographer Lisl Moolman, 42, from Phalaborwa, South Africa, who was on holiday with her family at Kruger National Park.
She said: “I was sitting at the dam, sightseeing and watching animals as they came to drink.
“As is the norm, crocodiles sunbathe at this dam. Everything was quiet and tranquil, until another visitor attracted my attention showing me that a crocodile just caught a leopard tortoise and was moving into the water at great speed.
Playing with their food … Crocs were seen tossing the tortoise in the air
“I saw a crocodile at the water’s edge moving into the water with high speed, a leopard tortoise clamped tightly between its jaws.
“The tortoise shell is notoriously quite hard to break. It kept the tortoise in its jaws, while some more crocodiles gathered around it.
Attack … Crocodile has tortoise in its jaws just before swallowing it whole
“It wasn’t long before they started fighting over it, and the tortoise disappeared into the depths of the water.
“After a couple of minutes, it drifted to the surface, where a crocodile guarded it until swimming away after about half an hour.”
A leopard tortoise can live up to 100 years, and is the fourth largest species of tortoise in the world, with the heaviest weighing around 50kg.