Rarely has a photo taken by an unknown photographer become the subject of interest among scientists, but that appears to be exactly what is happening with the images of two reptiles. The world’s most dangerous people are caught up in a battle of life and death.

The snake grabbed the python’s neck and waited until the venom took effect.

Incredible images captured by a passerby show the python trying to use its muscular body to wrap around the cobra and attempt to strangle its opponent to death. On the other side, the king cobra opened its mouth wide and sank its fangs into the enemy’s neck.

The king cobra’s weapon is its deadly venomous bite. This species is famous for biting its prey and injecting poison into the victim with its sharp fangs. In the photo, the king cobra is the animal with the tail extending toward the top of the photo, and the python is tightening its neck.

Meanwhile, the reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is considered the longest reptile in the world but is not venomous. In turn, they use their strong, muscular bodies to wrap around their prey, cutting off the circulatory system and causing death by restricting blood flow to vital organs.

In this case, the python showed its strength by crushing the cobra’s body.

Shab Mohammadi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said that this python was most likely just defending itself, because king cobras are often the ones who attack and even eat other snakes. Meanwhile, reticulated pythons usually only hunt mammals and birds.

After being attacked, the python may have tried to escape, but with its slow moving speed, it would have difficulty against a much faster cobra.

In the end, the python did not give up but chose to fight. Its body is like a noose, creating a trap and killing the cobra, even if it dies from the snake’s venom.

“All python species use the same general strategy: They constrict their prey, and each time the prey moves away, they squeeze even tighter, making it impossible for the prey to breathe, and eventually suffocated to death”.