Catfish Fights for Its Life Inside Pelican’s Throat Before Being Swallowed

Watch as a pelican battles for 15 minutes to swallow a catfish in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Will it succeed? Find out in this incredible footage captured by Michael Laubscher of Wild Eye.

Even after being caught by a pelican, this catfish wasn’t ready to go down as an easy meal. So, it put up a fight inside the pelican’s throat!

After having stopped at a huge pan of water for some time, the group had no luck with any big mammals, but they were entertained by an array of water birds. The birds were wading in the shallows and searching for anything to eat when, all of a sudden, they all scattered and moved off for a moment.

Looking around for what caused the behavior change, the group noticed two very big birds landing and making their way to the shallows of the pool of water. Michael, the guide, identified the two birds as pelicans!

The two pelicans began sifting in the shallows when they found sharp-toothed catfish (Barbel). It was an easy picking, and the huge bird picked it up with ease. Scooping the helpless fish into its bill and then shifting it into its gular pouch.

This pouch on a pelican has many uses, from acting as a fishing net to serving as a storage bag for transporting fish to its babies, and even on hot days as a means of cooling the bird down.

Despite the pelican pouch being able to hold up to 11 liters of water. The fish that it had just caught was still proving to be too big! The pelican suffered as it tried to place the fish in such a manner that it would easily slide down its throat and into its hungry belly.

All this time, the other pelican was watching this and thought that instead of catching its fish, maybe it could sneak in and steal one that’s already caught. But the first pelican was not going to give up without a fight. So, it moved off again and tried to swallow the fish quickly before the second pelican could steal it.

However, this big slimy fish put up a fight in the pelican pouch, making it nearly impossible to swallow. Every time the pelican would get it lined up, the fish would squiggle and slide out of place.