Amazing Video Shows Coconut Crab Killing Bird In Brutal Fashion

Coconut Crab sounds like a delicious dish you might order at an Asian restaurant, not a bloodthirsty killer.

But a video taken by Dartmouth College biologist Mark Laidre may forever change whatever opinion you had previously of the creature.

The Coconut Crab is the largest terrestrial invertebrate in the world, with a leg span exceeding 3 feet and a weight of nearly 8 pounds in some cases. The crabs can climb trees and have claws nearly as strong as a lions jaws. Some have theorized that the giant crabs killed Amelia Earhart and took her bones underground.

One thing is for sure: you may not want to see one on a dark night, based on Laidres video, which shows a Coconut Crab killing a bird namely, an adult red-footed booby.

Laidre took the video in early 2016 when he spent two months at the Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean observing the crabs in their native habitat.

The video, seen below, was released last month as part of a research paper for the journal Frontiers In Ecology And The Environment.

In the paper, Laidre detailed the shocking encounter:

The booby had been sleeping on a low-lying branch, less than a meter up the tree. The crab slowly climbed up and grabbed the boobys wing with its claw, breaking the bone and causing the booby to fall to the ground, where it was unable to fly.
The crab then approached the bird, grabbing and breaking its other wing. The booby struggled and pecked at the crab, but the crab retained its grip with both claws, kicking at the bird with its ambulatory legs.

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Coconut Crab Conservation","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvwpuXxwj6XqarmO0rr4uOg","cache_age":86400,"description":"Coconut crab (Birgus latro) predates red-footed booby (Sula sula) on Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory)","provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XIRfCoauxbo/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Coconut crab attacks bird","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=XIRfCoauxbo","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5a09cd9ee4b0bc648a0cb800","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/coconut-crab-live-bird-video_n_5a09cd9ee4b0bc648a0cb800","entryTagsList":"national-geographic-society,amelia-earhart,dartmouth-college,indian-ocean,chagos-archipelago,@health_adhd,@health_depression,@health_ibs,@health_models","sectionSlug":"weird-news","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"green,science,world-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.weird-news","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":4},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5a09cd9ee4b0bc648a0cb800","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"National Geographic Society","slug":"national-geographic-society","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/national-geographic-society","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/national-geographic-society","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/national-geographic-society"},"relegenceId":3353603,"department":{"name":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"section":{"title":"Science","slug":"science"},"topic":{"title":"National Geographic","slug":"national-geographic","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/impact/topic/national-geographic"},{"name":"Amelia Earhart","slug":"amelia-earhart","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/amelia-earhart","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/amelia-earhart","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/amelia-earhart"},"relegenceId":3460213,"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Culture & Arts","slug":"arts"},"topic":{"title":"Amelia Earhart","slug":"amelia-earhart","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/amelia-earhart"},{"name":"dartmouth college","slug":"dartmouth-college","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/dartmouth-college","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/dartmouth-college","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/dartmouth-college"},"relegenceId":3449807,"topic":{"title":"Ivy League","slug":"ivy-league","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/topic/ivy-league"},{"name":"indian ocean","slug":"indian-ocean","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/indian-ocean","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/indian-ocean","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/indian-ocean"},"relegenceId":3687507,"url":"https://action.news/topic/indian-ocean"},{"name":"Chagos Archipelago","slug":"chagos-archipelago","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/chagos-archipelago","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/chagos-archipelago","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/chagos-archipelago"},"relegenceId":3676216,"url":"https://action.news/topic/chagos-archipelago"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">