The Brief

A tour group in Florida’s Everglades came across an unsettling sight on Mother’s Day this year: they witnessed an adult alligator eating a baby gator in what the tour guide called a "National Geographic moment."

Video taken by Kelly Alvarez shows the adult alligator chomping down on a baby alligator in Shark Valley Everglades National Park on Sunday, May 11, as two young gators watch nearby. A tour guide could be heard saying that the alligator is eating its own children, though it’s not clear that’s what was really happening.

"An alligator mother will eat all the babies if conditions are bad—like a drought or no water. She's just a wild animal after all," Ben Welch, an alligator tour guide in South Louisiana, told travel writer Judith Fein.

"That’s what happens when kids are naughty and misbehave," the tour guide joked as the tourists watched in horror.

Why do alligators eat each other?

Dig deeper: According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, larger alligators often eat smaller alligators. They’re considered one of the biggest threats to the survival of smaller gators, but adult alligators can also be victims of cannibalism.

There are multiple reasons why they may eat each other, not just because they’re hungry.

"Sometimes it can be territorial, but very often alligators are cannibalistic," Florida wildlife officials told FOX 13 Tampa .

Typically, the males are more aggressive, especially during mating season, which runs from March until June. But as long as the weather is warm in Florida, alligators are more active in general.