This brave mother zebra desperately defended her foal after a vicious male rival tried to drown it at a watering hole to assert his dominance over the herd.
The baby is seen upside-down as the male holds it under the water at a lake in Etosha National Park, Namibia.
But the baby manages to get onto its feet and runs away from the attacker, beginning a life-or-death chase.
Male zebras regularly kill foals sired by other males in order to assert their claim to be the dominant male in the herd and ensure they do not become a future rival.
The baby is seen upside-down as the male holds it under the water at a lake in Etosha National Park, Namibia
The killing of a female’s young also frees her up to be a potential reproductive partner.
The mother tries to knock the male off course to protect her baby, who runs towards some bushes.
It is not clear whether the foal survived the encounter as the footage cuts out after a minute and 50 seconds.
The video was filmed by wildlife enthusiast Daniel Tjärnén, who called it a ‘once in a lifetime sighting’.
He said: ‘We were driving up to this waterhole, hoping to get some good sightings and especially hoping to see some predators.’
‘As ever with mother nature, trying to predict what you’ll see in the bush is never easy. More often than not, you are way off!
But the baby manages to get onto its feet and runs away from the attacker, beginning a life-or-death chase
The mother tries to knock the male off course to protect her baby, who runs towards some bushes
‘Instead of predators, we saw this dazzle of zebras drinking from the waterhole.
‘We suddenly noticed that one zebra was actively attacking a young foal. First, it was a bit shocking but then I thought – it’s the way of nature.’
THE DARKER SIDE OF ZEBRAS
Zebras are grouped into harems, which consist of one dominant male with as many as 6 females and their foals.
Stallions fight each other for females and regularly steal them from each other.
Males will often kill a foal reared outside their harem in order to ensure they do not become a rival.
The death of the foal also frees the mother to be a potential reproductive partner.
This brutal process ensures that the strongest zebras survive and pass on their genetics to future generations.
Many of the people watching reacted differently and wanted to help the foal.
Mr Tjärnén added: ‘After a long battle between the male, mother and foal, the zebras disappeared behind the trees.
‘I think the baby survived for the time being, but it looked injured. Maybe it was chased off or killed later on by a passing predator.’
Game ranger Richard de Gouveia said the site of males trying to kill their rivals’ babies is not uncommon at the reserve.
He added that zebra stallions will sometimes even go as far as stealing females from one another.
He added: ‘If the female which is stolen is pregnant, the new male will rape her until such time as she has aborted the pregnancy.
‘Abortion would be done by releasing hormones that would cause her body to reabsorb the fetus or miscarry or if she gave birth to a live foal it would be kicked to death by the male.’
It is not clear whether the foal survived the encounter as the footage cuts out after a minute and 50 seconds
Wildlife enthusiast Daniel Tjärnén, who filmed the video, said he believes the baby survived ‘for the time being’ but was injured