Crayfish severs its own claw to save itself from being boiled alive

A crayfish has been filmed slicing off its own claw in a bid to avoid being boiled alive at a restaurant in China.

In a video which has now viewed more than one million times on Facebook, a crayfish is seen perching on to the edge of a pot with one pincer dangling in the boiling soup before it rips off the damaged limb using its other claw before scuttling off to safety across the table.

The dramatic film, which proves animals are capable of feeling fear and pain, was captured by social media user Jiuke, who posted it on the popular Chinese platform Weibo.

Thankfully the crustacean was later adopted by Jiuke who was about to eat it and is now being kept in an aquarium after social media users had begged the man not to eat the animal “seeing how hard he’s trying to survive.”

“I let him live,” Jiuke replied, according to the Taiwan News. “I already took him home and am raising him in an aquarium.