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A jaguar and her cub were spotted taking an unusual stand on how to best prepare dinner in southwestern Brazil.

The cub and mother had dived into a river in the Pantanal wetlands and caught a 10ft long anaconda snake.

After they dragged the snake onto the river-bank, they began a tug of war: fighting over the long reptile in the sand. 

Pulling their weight: The jaguar and her cub had caught a 10ft long anaconda snake in the Pantanal wetlands in southwestern Brazil, and ended up having a fight over it

The moment was captured by British tourist Emma Greenwood, 34, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, who says she thought the mother jaguar was indulging the cub.

 'It was such unusual behaviour,' she said of the animals. 

'Jaguars are very secretive when they get a kill and take it away into the bushes.

'But this adult and her cub were on the beach for quite a while.  

Game face on: The mother and cub were first spotted by the water's edge, as they were on the hunt for anacondas 

Dinner is ready: After catching an anaconda, the pair dragged the snake onto the sandy banks of the river

Family tradition? The photos emerged just weeks after similar snaps were taken in the same area of Pantanal in Brazil

Same, same: As there are only 15,000 wild jaguars left in South America, this is likely the same pair who enjoy a play-fight

'It looked to me like the mother was tolerating the cub, which was playing around with it.

'Maybe she was letting the cub practice its killing technique.'  

The photos emerged just weeks after similar snaps of a jaguar and her cub play-fighting over a large anaconda were taken in the same area.

As there are only an estimated 15,000 jaguars left in the wild in South America, it is not unlikely that it is the same pair of mother-and-cub who take pleasure in playing with their food.