The terrifying moment a jaguar jumped out of a tree to battle an alligator has been captured by stunned tour guide.
Italo Garcia Alves was exploring with a small group when he spotted the large cat clinging to a branch above a river.
In an incredible video, the alligator can be seen cruising underneath the tree – completely oblivious to the predator poised above.
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Suddenly, the jaguar pounced on the alligator and the two animals grappled in the water.
The gator was occasionally thrown out of the water for a brief moment before disappearing back under.
The jaguar was nowhere to be seen during the fight but towards the end of the clip, it eventually emerged from the water unscathed.
Italy, 36, shared the video of the encounter to social media with his 130,000 followers where it attracted 15.8m views.
He revealed that he had waited for four hours and 11 minutes to see the jaguar on Saturday (13 June).
“Normally, when a jaguar decides to attack an alligator, the animal is easily dominated, since the jaguar has extreme strength and a powerful bite,” Italo told Need To Know.
“However, in this case, although the feline managed to subdue the alligator momentarily, it ended up losing its prey soon after.
“This is remarkable since alligators are also very difficult to hold.
“This type of confrontation is rare and always impressive, as it involves the largest feline in the Americas against a reptile of considerable size.”
In the caption of the video, Italo said that the encounter will be “forever be engraved” in his heart.
He wrote: “Four hours and 11 minutes was the time we waited for this wonderful jaguar to put on this show.
“A day that will forever be engraved in the hearts of everyone who was present here.”
The video was filmed in the Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area, located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Italo is from Inhumas, a municipality in central Goiás state, Brazil.
He now lives in Demark and works as a tour guide in Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
He regularly travels back to Brazil to explore.
Viewers were fascinated by Italo’s video, which received 1.3m likes and many comments.
Alcenir said: “A lot of courage of you is there too brother. Congratulations. Unreal.”
Anthony questioned: “Why didn’t they save the alligator?”
“What a majestic, beautiful animal. The intelligence to give the jackpot is impressive. Amazing,” Bruno added.
Heleandro joked: “She’s thinking afterwards, the ones on the boat are easier.”
“Nature is incredible, a spectacle to see up close,” added Jacqueline.
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