A wildebeest shows its extreme will to survive by escaping from the jaws of a hungry crocodile with nothing but a flesh wound.
The mighty battle began as a herd of wildebeest made a treacherous river crossing hoping to avoid falling prey to predators lurking beneath the water’s surface.
But one of the 500lb horned creatures was caught in the jaws of a crocodile just yards from the safety of the river bank.
Fighting for his life, the wildebeest bravely refused to give in to the crocodile’s attempts to drag him under water – standing firm and avoiding being drowned.
A wildebeest had a shock while crossing a river in Kenya after a crocodile launched itself at the creature, pictured
The 500lb mammal had to fight for its life after the reptile clamped its jaws on the beast’s side in the Mara River, pictured
As the crocodile latched on to its prey, other wildebeest crossed the river totally unconcerned by what was going on
The incredible stalemate, which lasted for around five minutes, was witnessed by civil engineer Jun Zuo as he watched from the banks of the Mara River in Kenya.
He said: ‘A herd of wildebeests were crossing Mara River during their migration when unfortunately, one of them was caught by a crocodile.
‘The only way the crocodile could get the wildebeest was by dragging him into the river and drowning him to death.
‘It was a deadly stalemate. The crocodile could not hold on because the wildebeest was firmly standing on the riverbed and slowly moved forward to the river shore.
After its first attempt to drag the wildebeest beneath the waters of the Kenyan river failed, the crocodile regrouped under water preparing to strike again
The reptile once more latched on the the wildebeest’s torso but by now it had almost reached dry land, pictured
‘Finally the crocodile gave up and released his prey, and the wildebeest escaped with a wound.’
The 60-year-old, from Olathe in Kansas, US, explained how the 13ft long Nile Crocodile moved fast in the water, but picked a prey too large and ended up exhausted after the attack.
He added: ‘This is the first time I had seen such a brutal animal fight, and I was shocked. I was holding my breath and continuously pressed the camera shutter button.
‘I could see a deep wound on the wildebeest’s body but he survived. I couldn’t say the same for others as there were some wildebeest bodies elsewhere in the water.’
Mr Zuo took the photos during a safari with six other photographers, and stayed in Maasai Mara Game Reserve for four days.
He said: ‘The experience let me see a brutal side of nature, and the wildebeests and other animals have to face so many dangers in the wild.’
One last desperate attempt by the crocodile was shrugged off by the mammal, who looked in pain but was still able to reach the shore and escape death
The crocodile relented as the wounded wildebeest clambered away up a rocky slope in Kenya, still bleeding from its flesh wound
