A four-feet-long adult cobra tried to hunt a much smaller non-venomous common sand boa snake at Kulaharipur village near Jajpur in eastern India on March 2.

In a desperate attempt to escape, the common sand boa, which was barely one-feet-long, coiled itself around the cobra's neck and started strangling it.

The two snakes were soon locked in a deathly embrace with the cobra unable to wriggle out and the sand boa unwilling to let go.

A local resident called Snake Helpline and a volunteer, Pradosh Kumar Jena, went to the spot. He first tried to convince the villagers not to disturb the snakes and let the duel run its course.

But as a few villagers disagreed, fearing that they may kill the snakes, Pradosh broke up the duel and released the two snakes separately in the wild.

Subhendu Mallik, general secretary of Snake Helpline, said: "The common sand boa is non-venomous, but it can be very aggressive and strike fiercely. Though we separated them, the prolonged bite from the cobra is likely to kill the common sand boa from neurotoxic poisoning.”