This is the heart-stopping moment a warthog mother had her baby snatched by a hungry leopard.
The dramatic images show the leopard pounce on the warthog piglet and sink its teeth into its neck.
Desperate to save her baby, the mum charged full force at the leopard causing it to lose its grasp on the piglet, sending it flying through the air.
Dramatic photos show the moment a leopard took its chance to grab onto a baby warthog
The leopard sank its teeth into the neck of the poor piglet – but was spotted by its mother, who began to charge
The brave mother then chased the leopard away and escaped with her baby, leaving the leopard with its pride dented and stomach empty.
The incredible images were taken by photographer Koos Fourie while on holiday with his family at Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Mr Fourie, 60, from South Africa, said: ‘We saw the three warthogs running in the road ahead of us.
He added: ‘I decided to stop to take a picture of the warthogs. I parked my vehicle in the road, opened the window and focused on the biggest warthog.
The protective mother began to charge at the leopard, who still had the piglet it its jaws
The furious warthog charged towards the leopard, who threw the piglet high into the air
‘When I pushed the shutter of my camera I heard a noise and thought it was the piglets fighting with one other.
‘But it was a leopard who had appeared from nowhere and caught one of the warthog piglets.
‘The leopard was trying to pin her potential kill to the ground and the piglet was screaming and kicking to try and get away from the leopard.
‘The next moment the mother came running back from behind my vehicle at full speed dropping her head and hit the leopard in the ribcage.
As the warthog prepared to spear the leopard with its tusks, the majestic feline pounced high into the air
‘She turned around and hit the leopard again – so hard that the leopard dropped the warthog she had caught.
‘The mother chased the leopard into a culvert next to the road. The warthogs ran away and the leopard snarled at me.
‘I was very excited and fortunate to have photographed the very special occurrence in the bush.
The leopard dropped the warthog piglet, and, thanks to its mother’s quick thinking, it was able to scurry away
‘There was also a lesson from nature for me where we witnessed the care of a mother for her baby.
‘She has put her own life at risk to save her baby’s life and this made me decide to call the event ‘fight for life.”