Nature is scary: Alligator eats an alligator

If you ever needed irrefutable proof that nature is a cruel mistress, then this is it. A man captured some serious alligator cannibalism while out for a walk and will likely never be the same again. Alex Figueroa left his house in Florida to go for a walk and take some photographs of birds, but instead was treated to the graphic alligator display. Several other onlookers also witnessed the attack.

A massive alligator, that Figueroa reckoned to have been between around 12ft long, was seen munching on a smaller alligator. Although cannibalism is frowned upon in most civilised cultures, alligators have a different idea on what can and cannot be considered food.

Researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission explained that alligators tend to eat other gators as a means of controlling their own population. It is estimated that around 6-7% of smaller, juvenile alligators tend to be eaten by larger, hungrier ones.