WARNING: SOME MAY FIND THESE IMAGES DISTRESSING
Nature is awesome; we all know this. That's why more of us tuned into Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth II than The X Factor Final - it's actually real.
Sadly, nature isn't always pretty. In fact, sometimes it's just downright disturbing.
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Take these pictures of a crocodile devouring a zebra whole in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Yeah, they're not something you'd show your four-year-old nephew, but they're fascinating.
As you can see, at one point the giant crocodile has to fight off his mate to ensure he gets the most meat.
Cheese!
As the zebra is devoured, the crocodile's body swells as it digests its meal.
To be fair, the poor bastard had no chance.
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Credit: Barcroft
Photographer Subramanian Sridharan managed to take the incredible pictures, and said that he just had to accept nature taking its course. Well, I wouldn't fancy jumping in and attempting to save it, would you?!
The circle of life can be pretty fucking horrible sometimes, but remember that crocodiles get attacked, too. Take this footage of a jaguar attacking a Caiman crocodile...
Footage of a jaguar attacking a Caiman crocodile. Credit: Barcroft
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Yikes.
Reserves are especially important to protect animals such as crocodiles from atrocities such as this one...
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released the below footage which was filmed undercover in the spring of last year and shows crocodiles being skinned alive to make luxury handbags.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS DISTRESSING FOOTAGE
Video Credit: PETA
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Some of the video has been censored as it is too upsetting to show a process called pithing.
This sees the crocodiles pinned down on a table before their necks are cut and a rod of metal is used to destroy spinal tissue. Horrendous.
Credit: PETA
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The animals are still alive while this takes place and they can continue to live while imprisoned in tiny cages for several hours despite essentially being paralysed.
Credit: PETA
"PETA is calling on everyone not to buy exotic skins in order to prevent reptiles from being imprisoned, mutilated, and sometimes skinned alive," said PETA Managing Director Ingrid Newkirk.
It's horrific and PETA is doing its bit by bringing attention to this sickening business.
So as it turns out, we're the nastiest bastards in the food chain. But we already knew that, right?
Featured Image Credit: Barcroft