A 2.5-meter catfish stealthily approaches a flock of pigeons, then strikes with lightning speed, swallowing its prey whole.
In the clip, a predatory catfish stealthily moves closer to a group of pigeons drinking water by the river. The fish, measuring 2.5 meters in length, then leaps out of the murky water and quickly snatches a pigeon.
With a lightning-fast strike, the catfish swiftly devours the pigeon. It is known that the footage was recorded on the Tarn River in southwestern France.
The catfish in this region are dubbed the “freshwater killer whale” due to their deadly hunting prowess. They often venture into shallow waters to hunt birds. The clip, once uploaded to YouTube, has garnered over 3 million views.
The predatory catfish stealthily approaches a flock of pigeons.
With a body length ranging from 1 to 1.5 meters, the European catfish is the largest freshwater fish in Europe and the third largest in the world. However, its behavior of hunting on land is quite rare. Most catfish species typically feed on underwater vegetation, small fish, snails, and insects.
Catfish possess highly sensitive whiskers around their mouths, which they often use to sense prey during their hunting excursions.
