While on a recent safari at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa, we watched an African rock python swallow an impala. The opportunity to watch a python swallow its prey is rare and ours was even more so, in that the typical prey for the python is much smaller animals such as birds and rabbits. We were fascinated to watch as the snake swallowed such a large animal.

It’s amazing how much a python can eat essentially in a single bite. The rock python is near the top of the food chain and few will take them on at any time, other than when they are digesting food. In the video below, you can see why as the python eats an entire impala.