Watch A Herculean Komodo Dragon Swallow An Entire Sea Turtle (Yes, Shell Too!)

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Although the featured video is of a Komodo dragon enjoying a meal, you might want to wait to watch it if you’ve just finished eating — or if you’re about to eat and don’t want to lose your appetite!

Can Komodo Dragons Swallow Their Prey Whole?

Komodo dragons are vicious eaters. They swallow their food whole, shoving it into their mouths and letting their throat pull the prey in. However, when the prey is too large, they may use a tree for leverage to help ram the animal down their throats. They can swallow prey as big as goats completely whole and if they do use the help of a tree, the force they use against it is so powerful, they may just topple the tree as well.

What Are A Turtle’s Defense Mechanisms?

A turtle’s shell is its best defense against predators because it can withstand an immense amount of pressure. If a turtle is facing a threat, it quickly pulls its head, legs, and tail in for cover beneath its shell. Generally, this shields it from danger. But if they need to get aggressive, they do. A turtle can also bite and release an awful-smelling secretion. It can also flee and if it makes it into the water, it may just get away from predators that prefer land.

Komodo Dragon Devours Entire Turtle

When the video below starts, you have a low-to-the-ground perspective of a Komodo dragon already mid-meal. The first scene is brief and then you get a brighter and even clearer image of the Komodo dragon’s head and neck. Its mouth is gaping open and you can barely make out the shape of what once was a live turtle. As the Komodo dragon bites down, you can hear its teeth crunching and sliding on the turtle’s shell.

This isn’t the easiest of meals for the Komodo to swallow whole, but it’s determined. It starts turning its head from side to side, using the ground as leverage. The turtle’s lifeless, disemboweled body gets pushed against the ground, which makes it easier for the Komodo to get more of its body into its mouth. When the ground isn’t enough, the Komodo heads over to a thick tree and starts using it as an aid to push the turtle into its mouth.

Eventually, with the help of the tree, the Komodo is able to swallow the remaining pieces of the turtle. At one point, only its legs and some innards stick out of its mouth. The Komodo uses the tree a couple more times, pushing the very last of the ill-fated turtle down. You’d think it’d be choking at this point, but it looks content at the end of the video, the turtle’s intestines hanging out of its mouth like dark black noodles.