A rare sight: coconut crabs are hunted for the bird

Scientists have removed on video as the thief palm or coconut cancer methodically pursues, kills and eats sea birds. The behavior shocked the researchers intentional attack called savage.

Deadly cancer climbed the tree and crawled on the sleeping in the nest of a sea bird. Then he broke his powerful claws her wings and took off from the tree to the sand. After the killer crustaceans followed a wounded bird and broke the second wing. The poor bird desperately jumped from side to side and screaming in terror. When the bird was helplessly lying on the ground, on the scene arrived five palm thieves who helped the assailant to tear the prey apart.

Researcher mark Laid from Dartmouth College in new Hampshire (USA) caught a strange sight on video. The video may shed light on the behavior of this species. Laid plans to find out whether this new form of hunting is common on the island. He wants to put cameras in burrows of crayfish, to explore their hunting habits.

Palm thieves — the largest invertebrates live on land. They weigh up to 4 kg and reaches a width of 1 meter.

Opening Lidra showed that these massive creatures to actively hunt large vertebrates, and suggests that palm thieves can dominate in the island ecosystem.

Located on a huge expanse of the Indian ocean between East Africa and South Asia region Chagos ideal for a study of coconut crabs. He protected one of the largest marine reserves on Earth, so it is home to many palm thieves.

Last year a researcher from Japan proved that coconut cancer can compress objects with the power of 3.3 thousand Newtons, stronger than any crustaceans. This power is comparable to the bite of a large predator such as a lion.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»