Photographer Luciano Candisani captured the first time a green anaconda strangled its mate in a Brazilian swamp.
While tracking an exceptionally large snake in the Brazilian swamps, photographer Luciano Candisani came across an unexpected sight: a female green anaconda strangling a male, according to National Geographic .
With a body as thick as a truck tire, the female python is familiar to local guides Juca Ygarapé and Daniel de Granville, who guide Candisani along the Formoso River.
The group saw the female python half floating out of the water, wrapping herself tightly around the smaller male in the river bed after mating. They observed the two animals for several hours, taking several underwater photos at a distance of one meter.
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“I really didn’t understand what was going on at first. But then the female python dragged the male python into the grass,” Candisani said.
Although the photo was taken in 2012, Candisani decided to share the photo with National Geographic until now because the swamps where these pythons live are increasingly threatened by wildfires and the expansion of agriculture. Karma.
At that moment, both Candisani and the guides were amazed by the behavior of the python. The photographer turned to anaconda expert Jesús Rivas, a biologist at New Mexico Highlands University who has more than 30 years of experience studying reptiles in Venezuela.
Rivas has documented several cases of cannibalism in anacondas, in which females spit out mates after eating them. In this case, it’s not clear if the female python ate the male. Candisani said they couldn’t see him after he dragged the male into the grass.
According to Rivas, the males are a good source of protein for female pythons preparing to give birth. “30% of a woman’s body weight will go into childbirth. Eating 7-8 kg of meat before entering that stage is not a bad idea,” Rivas said.
Cansisani’s photo is the fourth recorded case of a female anaconda strangling a male. The green anaconda is particularly well adapted to cannibalism after mating due to the large difference in size between the sexes. The average male is only 2.7 meters long, while the female is between 3.7 and 5.2 meters long. Cansisani estimated that the snake he saw was 7 meters long.
Rivas noted that the area where Candisani took the photo, not far from the city of Bonito in Mato Grosso do Sul state, is often humid. “In arid areas, anacondas can hibernate for months in mud because food is scarce. But in places with year-round flooding, they can get more food and therefore grow. more,” Rivas said.
No one has ever seen the female python after Candisani took the photo, but he hopes she’s still alive there and may be looking for the next male.
