WATCH: Rooster Kills And Eats King Cobra

A rooster in an Indian village protected its brood from a venomous snake, killing and swallowing it, as shown in a National Geographic video Wednesday.

The video, recorded in Andhra Pradesh, originally showed the snake in a defensive position, but it soon shifted to an attack position as it tried to strike at the rooster. The rooster repeatedly attempted to pick up the snake, most likely a king cobra, with its mouth. The snake then began to slither away frantically from the rooster. The rooster aggressively tried to pick up the snake with its mouth.

After a few attempts, the rooster picked the snake up in its mouth, not allowing it to assume the position necessary to strike with venom. The rooster ran away with the snake and began toying with it, placing it in and out of its mouth. Throughout the video, the chickens present observed the actions of the rooster and followed behind during any major developments. Once the rooster separated from the other chickens, it swallowed the snake whole.

Village locals said the chickens sometimes eat small snakes, but that it was unusual to see the rooster kill the cobra. The rooster’s owners said they tried to stop the confrontation because they were scared the cobra would kill the rooster, reported United Press International Wednesday. One bite from a king cobra, most likely the type of snake in the video, carries enough venom to kill 20 people.

Roosters have previously killed and eaten venomous snakes. Domesticated roosters are always ready to battle predators who may try to harm their chickens.

King cobras live mostly in India, southern China and southeast Asia. They are not true cobras, of the genus Naja. The king cobra is the only member of the genus Ophiophagus. Their diet mostly consists of other snakes, including rat snakes, true cobras and pythons.