CROCODILE DOES DEATH ROLL ON ANOTHER CROC

GENTLE GIANT: INCREDIBLE MOMENT ELEPHANT DEFENDS INJURED LION BY CHASING OFF HYENAS STALKING IT

2–3 minutes

This is the amazing moment a giant crocodile put a rival in a tailspin as it performed a death roll while clinging on to its body.

Hennie Bekker was leading a tour through Kruger National Park in September when he came across a hippo corpse which had attracted hungry animals near a river.

Hennie, who is co-owner of PK Safaris, stopped to capture footage of the scene when two of the prehistoric predators began battling over dominance on the hippo feast.

Sending mud flying into the air, one of the crocodile’s latched on to the tail of its adversary and proceeded to death roll, spinning its foe multiple times before letting go.

PIC FROM Compass Media/@pksafaris/Hennie Bekker (PICTURED: THE LARGER CROCODILE GRABBED ITS SLIGHTLY SMALLER RIVAL BY THE TAIL AND DID A DEATH ROLL IN THE WATER.) This is the amazing moment a giant crocodile put a rival in a tailspin as it performed a death roll while clinging on to its body. Hennie Bekker was leading a tour through Kruger National Park in September when he came across a hippo corpse which had attracted hungry animals near a river. Hennie, who is co-owner of PK Safaris, stopped to capture footage of the scene when two of the prehistoric predators began battling over dominance on the hippo feast. DISCLAIMER: While Compass Media uses its best endeavours to establish the copyright and authenticity of all pictures supplied, it accepts no liability for any damage, loss or legal action caused by the use of images supplied and the publication of images is solely at your discretion. SEE COMPASS MEDIA COPY – info@compassmediauk.com

Hennie said: “I have been a guide for 20 years and never in that time have I seen this behaviour in Kruger National Park.

“I have never while on safari seen one crocodile that will execute a ‘death Roll’ on another. Normally they will bite each other, and larger crocodiles are known to kill small crocodiles and even eat them.

“Just before the larger crocodile crabbed the slightly smaller one, you can see the snout raised very high, which is called ‘snouting’, and is submissive behaviour.

“It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience even for me. Everyone on the tour was very excited at such an unexpected and unusual encounter.

“The fight carried on for about 25 seconds. The dead hippo carcass was a little bit away from the actual fight, so they were battling over territory and access to the food.

“The hippo died, most likely of natural causes, which attracted the lions, spotted hyenas, vultures and crocodiles. So basically it is a territorial fight and a competition for food.”

Hennie has co-owned PK Safaris with his brother Bernhard since 2016 and provide tours through Kruger from their base in Hazyview, South Africa.