A camel killed its owner by biting off its head after he had left the animal outside in the sweltering heat all day with its legs tied up.

The owner had been entertaining guests at his home in Rajasthan's Barmer district in India on Saturday when he remembered the camel had been outside in the intense heat all day.

But when he went to untie the animal and take it to a cooler area, the camel became aggressive and started attacking him.

A camel killed its owner by biting off its head after he had left the animal outside in the sweltering heat all day with its legs tied up (file pic)

And according to one villager, the camel then bit off the man's head leaving him dead.

The man told the Times of India: 'The animal lifted him by the neck and threw him on to the ground, chewed the body and severed the head.'

Villagers also revealed that the same camel had attacked the owner in the past and 25 of them struggled for six hours to restrain the animal.

Areas in Rajasthan are seeing some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in India with the mercury reaching 51 degrees Celsius.

Indian media reported 16 deaths in Rajasthan, where nearly 17,000 villages in 19 of 33 districts were facing water shortages.

Camels are usually gentle creatures and are said to enjoy sniffing at humans and will even play with their hair (file pic)

Meanwhile soldiers patrolling India's border with Pakistan were also struggling to deal with aggressive camels, who have become aggressive in the heat.

Camels are usually gentle creatures and are said to enjoy sniffing at humans and will even play with their hair.

However, male camels can have an aggressive streak and are known to fight with their counterparts.

Animals that are brought up in captivity are usually bred not to bite despite their large teeth.