An Australian goanna has been filmed swallowing a whole rabbit in under one minute.

The footage shows the two-metre long reptile managing to balance at the top of the pole while swallowing its prey.

The lizard swings its neck back and forth as it battles to swallow its catch, before managing to finish the feat in under a minute.

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The grisly footage shows the ravenous reptile battling to swallow its ill-fated prey

The video begins by closing in on the top of a towering power pole, where the goanna is perched with the rabbit

Prominent in Aboriginal mythology, goannas can unhinge their lower jaws when feeding, allowing them to eat over-sized prey.

They are not picky with their choice of food either, consuming anything from insects to birds and eggs through to large mammals like possums and cats.

They even eat dead and rotten animals, and are attracted to the smell of rotten meat.

The video, uploaded to YouTube last week, begins with the message: ‘Goanna swallows rabbit, some people may find this video a bit disturbing, but it’s only nature.’

Goannas, which come from the monitor lizard family, are found throughout most of Australia, but it’s unknown where the clip was filmed.

The lizard swings its neck back and forth as it battles to swallow the catch, before managing to finish the feat in under a minute

Goannas can unhinge their lower jaws when feeding, allowing them to dispose of some staggering sized prey including the likes of possums and cats