Watch a fish jump out of the water to kill a bird mid-flight
Meet the African tigerfish

Since at least the 1940s, locals along the Lower Zambezi River have reported witnessing African tigerfish leap out of the water to snatch unsuspecting birds when they flew too close to the water's surface. The problem for biologists and researchers, though, was that there was never video evidence to confirm such predation actually taking place.
Well, now there is:
At first glance, Hydrocynus vittatus is a frightening creature. (Okay, maybe several glances.) Its mouth is fortified with outsized, dagger-like teeth; its eyeballs bulge out of its head; and it can grow up to three feet in length and weigh up to 22 pounds. (It's worth mentioning that the tigerfish in question isn't even the biggest variety, either.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And now we know it has the precision and physiology to terrorize unsuspecting swallows mid-flight.
"The whole action of jumping and catching the swallow in flight happens so incredibly quickly that after we first saw it, it took all of us a while to really fully comprehend what we had just seen," says Nico Smit, an environmental scientist at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, who worked on the study. When they realized what had happened, "the first reaction was one of pure joy, because we realized that we were spectators to something really incredible and unique."
The discovery marks the first time researchers have seen a freshwater fish hunt and kill a flying bird. In all, researchers said they saw tigerfish catch swallows 20 times, but were only able to record this single instance on film.
In late 2012, however, we saw something pretty similar, when French catfish beached themselves along the Tarn River to snare clueless pigeons and drag them to their deaths.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Yes, fish are hunting birds now. Who would have guessed?
-
The ETA: how new UK travel rules may affect you
The Explainer Full roll-out of Britain's new travel scheme is designed to be easy, but some have already faced problems
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Arts on prescription: why doctors are prescribing museums and comedy
In The Spotlight Stressed-out patients in Switzerland are being prescribed a trip to the museum to boost their mental wellbeing
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Shompole Wilderness Camp: reconnect with nature at this secluded retreat
The Week Recommends This luxurious family-run camp in southern Kenya has access to more than 350,000 acres of pristine savannah
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published