This is the moment horrified locals found a cobra devouring a reticulated python in Thailand.

Terrified villagers found the 10ft cobra swallowing the smaller python behind a resident's home in Surat Thani province on May 22.

Gruesome footage shows the fearsome snake engulfing half of the python before it was found by the snake wranglers.

The cobra regurgitated its meal when the officers grabbed it. It was released into nature, away from the residential area.

A Chaiburi Rescue Centre officer said: 'The python was severely injured. It must have succumbed to the cobra's venom.'

Researchers found that 7,000 people are treated for snake bites each year in Thailand. Suchai Suteparuk from the Division of Toxicology at Chulalongkorn University reported that 30 of those die, with cobras being the biggest killer.