Four monitor lizards were seen wrestling in the trash in a narrow and dirty canal in Thailand.

Footage shows two pairs of wild reptiles grappling each other with arms locked around their opponents' bodies in Samut Prakan province, Thailand on October 6.

They whipped their tails and toppled each other down during the duel, splashing the polluted water with plastic pollution floating around them.

Resident Lemon Busaba said: ‘I heard strange sounds while walking home and saw them. They were hugging while fighting like boxers.'

Monitor lizards, particularly males, engage in physical combat, known as duelling, to establish dominance, secure territory, or compete for mates.

Asian water monitor lizards normally live in canals, swamps, sewers and ponds in cities in Thailand. They feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

The reptiles are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite which sometimes carries harmful bacteria. The Godzilla-like reptiles are also a protected species in the country so their population thrives.