Anaconda pythons kill males after mating

Photographer Luciano Candisani first captures a green anaconda python that squeezes a mate to death in a Brazilian marsh.

While tracking a particularly large snake in Brazilian wetlands, photographer Luciano Candisani encounters unexpected scenes: a green female anaconda python is killing males, according to National Geographic.

With a thick body like truck tires, the python is familiar to two local guides Juca Ygarapé and Daniel de Granville, Candisani's guides along the Formoso river.

The group saw the python rising from the water, tightly wrapped around the smaller male in the riverbed after mating. They watched two animals for a few hours, taking some photos underwater at a distance of one meter.

"I didn't really understand what was going on at first. But then, the python dragged the male python into the grass," Candisani said.

The giant python kills the male much smaller.(Photo: Luciano Candisani).

Although taking a photo in 2012, Candisani has so far decided to share a photo on National Geographic because the swamp where these pythons live is increasingly threatened by forest fires and the expansion of agricultural farming. career.

At that time, Candisani as well as the guides were amazed at the behavior of the python. The photographer sought expert advice on anaconda Jesús Rivas, a biologist at New Mexico Highlands University, who has more than 30 years of research experience in Venezuelan reptiles.

Rivas recorded a number of cannibalistic cannibal cases, in which the children spit out their mates after eating them. In this case, it is unclear whether the female python eats the male. Candisani said they could not see it after it pulled the male into the grass.

According to Rivas, males are a good source of protein for pythons that are ready to give birth."30% of the child's body weight will be for giving birth to a baby. Eating 7-8kg more meat before entering that stage is not a bad idea , " Rivas said.

The picture of Cansisani is the fourth recorded case of anaconda that killed the male. The green anaconda python is particularly suited to the cannibalistic behavior after mating by the large size difference between the sexes. The average male is only 2.7 meters long while the female is 3.7 to 5.2 meters long. Cansisani estimated the snake he saw was 7 meters long.

Rivas emphasized the area where Candisani photographed not far from Bonito city in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, often wet."In arid regions, pythons anaconda can hibernate for months under the mud because of scarce food sources. But in areas where year-round floods, they can earn more food, thereby growing large more " , Rivas said.

Nobody ever saw the python after Candisani took a picture of it, but he hoped it was still alive and might be looking for the next male.