Dramatic footage shows a heavily-pregnant snake spilling dozens of baby anacondas onto the road after it was run over and squashed.
Fisherman Ederson Negri Antonioli came across the heartbreaking scene on Monday (6 Jan) and filmed it for his followers.
His graphic footage shows the 5m-long (16’5”) boa and its 40-odd offspring scattered on the tarmac.
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Antonioli told local media that parts of the long snake were still moving when he first found it.
The water boa was due to give birth at any moment when it was run over on the MT-338 highway in Porto dos Gaúchos, Brazil.
The reptile has been identified as a southern green anaconda (Eunectes murinus).
The species is the largest snake in the world by weight, and among the longest, as reported by Need To Know.
The pregnant dead 5 metre snake with its offspring beside it. (Jam Press/@ederfisherman)
Some recorded specimens have measured as long as 9m (10yd) long and weighed more than 250kg (39st).
It is normal for green anacondas – which, unlike most snakes, don’t lay eggs – to give birth to such large numbers of offspring.
However, according to biologist Henrique Abrahão Charles, only about five per cent survive to adulthood.
The expert told local media: “Many end up becoming prey for other animals or dying shortly after birth.”
According to Charles, anaconda roadkill is sadly common in the area.
He said: “They seek out warm areas, like the sides of roads, to boost their metabolism.
“Especially after eating, which puts them at risk of being run over.
“If they’d had a little more time, they might have survived.
“Even though she died, they could have made it out alive.
“With a lot of luck, one or two might have survived, but it would have been a very slim chance.”
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