A python in the Northern Territory has put on an impressive display of its eating skills by devouring an entire wallaby in front of a shocked ranger patrol that was passing by.



Paul O’Neill, a ranger at the Nitmiluk national park near Katherine, was patrolling near the park’s visitor centre on Monday morning when he stumbled across the confronting scene of an olive python feeding on an agile wallaby joey.

The python would have waited for the wallaby to pass then made a fast strike to kill before it began consuming it, an expert says. Photograph: Paul O'Neill/Parks and Wildlife Commission NT

O’Neill took several pictures of the event, with the python seen coiled around the prone wallaby before making the ambitious decision to swallow the marsupial.

The snake took about 30 minutes to achieve the feat of consumption, although the wallaby severely tested the reptile’s ability to stretch its jaw ligaments when devouring prey.

The meal would have tested the python’s ability to stretch its jaw ligaments. Photograph: Paul O'Neill/Parks and Wildlife Commission NT

Greg Smith, a reptile expert at the Territory Wildlife Park, said O’Neill was “quite surprised” to witness such an event, which is fairly unusual to see in the wild.

“He was very fortunate to see it. I would have liked that novelty, as a reptile fan,” Smith told Guardian Australia.

It would have taken weeks for the python to fully digest the meal. Photograph: Paul O’Neill/Parks and Wildlife Commission NT

“The snake was fully expanded, it was at its maximum. You can’t see belly scales in the picture, you can see the skin between the scales because it was so stretched. It was almost white.

“After eating this, the python would go somewhere to hide because it would be very vulnerable if a dingo came along. It would move quite sluggishly though, given it has had a big meal.

All that is visible of the wallaby is its legs and tail as the snake nears completion of its meal. Photograph: Paul O’Neill/Parks and Wildlife Commission NT

“With a meal like that, it would sit in a cave to digest for about a week and then not need to eat for four to six weeks. It would certainly take a chill pill for the next fortnight, unless it needed a drink.”

The olive python is the largest snake species in the NT, and the second largest in Australia, behind the scrub python, which is found in parts of Queensland.

The species can grow up to six metres long. The snake seen devouring the wallaby is estimated to be about 2.5 metres. Smith said it would have been lying in wait for the wallaby after picking up its scent on a trail regularly used by the marsupial.

“It would have sat on the trail and then lashed out, it would have been very fast and very aggressive,” he said. “It would strike the wallaby in the middle part of its body and then coiled around it straight away. It would have been over very quickly. They are amazing animals, very strong indeed.”

The python would have sought out somewhere quiet, such as a cave, to rest and digest after the meal. Photograph: Paul O’Neill/Parks and Wildlife Commission NT

Nitmiluk national park, like other parts of the NT, has been affected by feral animals such as cane toads and cats in recent years, leading to the severe decline of native species such as the goanna and the king brown snake.

The olive python has also suffered a decrease in numbers but was now starting to bounce back, Smith said, as it adapted to introduced species.