Boa constrictor almost squeezes an Argentinian wildcat to death in the middle of a road before four locals come to the rescue
- The boa constrictor can be seen coiled around the jaguarundi, a small wild cat
- Incident took place in the town of Las Lajitas, in the north west of Argentina
- The cat can be heard struggling to breathe as it works to try to free itself
Heart wrenching footage captures the moment a wildcat struggles to breathe as it tries to free itself from the grips of a boa constrictor before being rescued by locals.
The incident took place in the town of Las Lajitas, Salta, in north west Argentina, when two men spotted the animals battling it out in the middle of the road.
With the wild cat clearly in need of saving, the locals swooped in attempting to release it from the boa’s grip.
In the video, the snake can be seen coiled around the jaguarundi, a small wild cat, in the middle of a dirt road. The cat can be heard struggling to breathe as it works to try to free itself from the snake’s coils.
Sole Rojas, a forest ranger who shared the video, said: ‘Between two people they managed to unwrap the boa and release the animal.
‘It is always a risk, [but] people in the area know how to manipulate wild animals and this boa is not venomous’.
The incident took place in the town of Las Lajitas, Salta, in north west Argentina, when two men spotted the animals battling it out in the middle of the road
In the video, the snake can be seen coiled around the jaguarundi, a small wild cat, in the middle of a dirt road
Adding that four people had to be drafted in to complete the rescue operation.
The feline was reportedly freed from the snake’s coils.
Rojas said that there are three national parks in the area from where the animals could have ventured from, including the National Park of El Rey (The King), the national reservoir of Pizarro and the natural park of Los Palmares.
The jaguarundi is found from southern Texas and coastal Mexico in the north to as far south as northern Argentina.
The cat can be heard struggling to breathe as it works to try to free itself from the snake’s coils
Struggle: Between two people they managed to unwrap the boa and release the animal, with four people total involved in the rescue mission
Males can grow up to 32 inches long and females up to 26 inches.
It is prohibited to hunt the animals in Argentina and they are often targeted by farmers as they are known to hunt livestock.
The boa constrictor occidentalis is considered a threatened subspecies due to strong hunting and capture pressures for both its skin and for the pet trade.