A cobra with a large frog in its jaw attempted to flee from a pursuing wildlife official in Pune, Maharashtra.

A farmer spotted the snake in his backyard and called rescuer Saidas Kusal to deal with the reptile.

Kusal decided to wait for the cobra to finish its meal but the snake struggled to swallow the large frog.

The cobra eventually dropped the frog as Kusal moved in closer. The rescuer managed to catch the snake and released it into the wild later.

He said: "Snakes usually abandon their prey and flee when they sense trouble. But this cobra was so aggressive it even tried to strike me while holding the frog in its mouth.”

A farmer, near Pune in western India, saw a deadly cobra in his backyard on March 7 and called rescuer Saidas Kusal.

When Saidas went to the farm, he saw that the snake had just preyed on a frog and was swallowing it slowly.

He decided to wait for the snake to finish its meal before rescuing it. But the cobra struggled to swallow the huge frog and went about its task very slowly. The unusual sight soon started drawing curious visitors forcing Saidas to move closer to the snake to try to catch it.

The unnerved cobra tried to get away but wasn’t willing to give up its prey. It fled the pursuing rescuer while holding the frog in its mouth. In the commotion it dropped the prey and Saidas seized the moment to catch it. The cobra was released in the wild later.

Saidas said: “Snakes usually abandon their prey and flee when they sense trouble. But this cobra was so aggressive it even tried to strike me while holding the frog in its mouth.”