This is the incredibly rare moment an African python was caught on camera trying to eat an entire wildebeest.
The massive snake looked like its eyes were bigger than its belly when it was discovered in the South African bush swallowing the massive meal.
The incredible elasticity of the python’s jaws is clear in this grisly shot
These are the first known photographs of a python taking on such large prey
‘This is an incredibly rare sighting, and is by my knowledge the first time that it has been recorded, let alone photographed and documented that a Southern African python catches prey as big as the blue wildebeest, albeit a wildebeest calf.
Game reserve manager Rudi Hulshof said seeing the python eat the wildebeest left him ‘speechless’
Rudi said he came across the unusual encounter quite by chance while actually looking for lions and leopards.
A gruesome close-up shows just how wide the reptile can stretch its jaws to consume its prey
He added: ‘I however found nothing, and just as I turned to return to my guests, I saw this snake lying on the ground. Moving closer I saw that it was swallowing the Wildebeest calf, aged about two months old.
African pythons are the largest snakes found on the continent
The next morning all traces of the python and its prey had disappeared