CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Burmese Python And Alligator Fight To The Death

Watch a battle between two of nature's most ferocious apex predators.

A Florida journalist out on a bike ride caught a rare sight on video last month: a 15-foot-long Burmese python locked in a deadly battle with an alligator

Joe Capozzi, a reporter for the Palm Beach Post, said he was cycling through South Florida’s Big Cypress National Reserve when he heard a series of splashes.

He wrote: 

“It was all at once terrifying, mesmerizing and beautiful, a battle between predator and prey that at times looked as graceful as a water ballet. Once I got the iPhone video rolling, I couldn’t stop watching.”

Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill told the local CBS station that the battle of the two apex predators was nature’s version of Godzilla fighting King Kong in the swamp.

“What that python was doing, from the mid down to the tail, wrapped around that alligator, keeping him under the water and waiting for it to succumb to asphyxiation basically,” Magill told the station.  

Capozzi wrote that Big Cypress invasive species expert Tony Pernas told him the battle was “pretty rare.” Capozzi also said that the snake won the battle, but that’s not always the case.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, some are pets that were released or escaped into the wild while others are descended from pythons that escaped a breeding facility destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It’s no longer legal to acquire the snakes as pets in the Sunshine State. 

Support HuffPost

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.

Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.

Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your will go a long way.

Support HuffPost

Before You Go

World's Most Extreme Animals
Strongest Animal (For Its Size)(01 of13)
Open Image Modal

The Atlas beetle can push around 850 times its weight.

(credit:Scott Stockwell)
Largest Invertebrate (Land)(02 of13)
Open Image Modal

The coconut crab weighs about 6.6 pounds, and its legs can span up to two-and-a-half feet. Liz Hall from the Melbourne Aquarium inspected Coconut Crab as he took possession of a coconut on Dec. 19, 2006. The coconut crab (also known as the robber crab) is the largest living crab in the world and can climb coconut trees to harvest the nuts, which they can break with their huge nippers. They've also been gruesomely known to feed on injured or unconscious people in the bush.

(credit:William West, AFP / Getty Images)
Largest Invertebrate(03 of13)
Open Image Modal

The giant squid is the world's largest invertebrate, and the largest such squid ever measured was 59 feet long. Giant squids also have the largest eyes of any animal, each one about the size of a human head.

Smallest Mammal(04 of13)
Open Image Modal

The Etruscan shrew is the smallest mammal (by weight) in the world. The smallest animal by skull size is the bumblebee bat.

Most Venomous Animal(05 of13)
Open Image Modal

The sea wasp jellyfish has enough venom to kill 60 adult humans. (Photo: Guido Gautsch/Flickr)

(credit:Guido Gautsch/Flickr)
Longest Migration(06 of13)
Open Image Modal

Arctic terns migrate about 11,000 miles to the Antarctic each year ... and then come all the way back. This Arctic tern dove down to protect its nest on June 24, 2011, on Inner Farne, England.

(credit:Dan Kitwood, Getty Images)
Loudest Animal(07 of13)
Open Image Modal

Blue whales' low-frequency pulses can be heard over 500 miles way. At 188 decibels, these sounds are louder than a jet engine. This blue whale swam in the deep waters off the southern Sri Lankan town of Mirissa on March 26, 2009.

(credit:Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP / Getty Images)
Fastest Land Bird(08 of13)
Open Image Modal

North African ostriches run up to 45 miles an hour, making them the fastest land bird. They are also the biggest, weighing up to 345 pounds. An African ostrich eats at the Addo National Elephant Park, north of Port Elizabeth, on June 24, 2010.

(credit:Patrick Hertzog, AFP / Getty Images)
Fastest Bird(09 of13)
Open Image Modal

Peregrine falcons dive toward their prey at over 200 mph. A young male peregrine falcon ate meat taken from the protective glove of Taronga Zoo bird trainer Erin Stone (unseen) following a short flying lesson in Sydney on Dec. 9, 2009.

(credit:Greg Wood, AFP / Getty Images)
Fastest Fish(10 of13)
Open Image Modal

Sailfish can swim at speeds of up to 68 mph, although experts disagree as to just which species of sailfish is the fastest. Sailfish jumped out of the water on Jan. 16, 2006, in the Florida Keys.

(credit:Ronald C. Modra, Sports Imagery / Getty Images)
Fastest Mammal(11 of13)
Open Image Modal

Cheetahs can run at speeds up to 70 mph. Majani, a 2-year-old male African cheetah, exhibited lightning speed on March 19, 2004, while chasing a mechanical rabbit at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park as part of the park's environmental enrichment program.

(credit:Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo / AP)
Longest Lifespan(12 of13)
Open Image Modal

Three giant tortoises are estimated to have lived over 175 years each, with one estimated at a whopping 255 years. Harriet, who died in 2006, was thought to be the third longest-lived tortoise on record. (Photo: Cory Doctorow/Creative Commons)

(credit:Cory Doctorow/Creative Commons)
Heaviest Land Animal(13 of13)
Open Image Modal

African elephants are the heaviest and second tallest land animals. Large males can exceed 13,000 pounds and are 12 feet tall at the shoulder. An elephant roamed Tsavo west national park, some 350 kilometers southeast of Nairobi, on Feb. 10, 2011.

(credit:Tony Karumba, AFP / Getty Images)