Monitor Lizard Tries Eating Turtle Alive, Bites Off 'More Than He Can Chew' [Video]

A monitor lizard was caught on camera trying to eat a turtle alive at MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore.

The video was shared Sunday on the Facebook page of Singapore Wildlife Sightings. The uploader of the video captioned the video: “Bitten off more than he can chew? I felt sorry for the turtle but wasn’t about to wrestle with Lizzy to save him."

It remains unclear when the video was taken.

The 31-second clip shows the monitor lizard holding the turtle in its mouth. The turtle was alive and trying to run away every time its shell touched the ground. But, the monitor lizard kept a firm grasp on the turtle, not letting it slip away. It remains unclear if the monitor lizard was successful in consuming his meal.

A Facebook user commented on the post, writing he had recently witnessed a similar incident at the same location. However, the incident had a tragic end to it.

“The next morning, the monitor lizard was dead in the water choked by the turtle, which it was unable to swallow. A few days later, I had to inform the authorities as there was a decaying smell. It was removed,” he added.

Another social media user said for the monitor lizard, chewing on the turtle was like “trying to crack open a walnut with your teeth, not worth the effort.”

“This juvenile lizard just any-o-how hantam an easy prey, soon he will give up,” the Facebook user added.

One person said the turtle was a Terrapin (fresh water tortoise), which are commonly found in pet shops. "Probably released and ended up as food," the user wrote.

A turtle shell is extremely hard and can withstand thousands of pounds worth of pressure. The average turtle shell has a fracture toughness of 36.4MPa m1/2, which measures the required force to fracture a surface, according to turtleholic.

In September last year, an Instagram user shared a graphic video showing a monitor lizard devouring an endangered pig-nosed turtle. The monitor lizard was seen in the video using his claws to tear his prey apart. Screenshots of the video were shared by Singapore's The Independent.