This is the brutal moment a hungry lion pounced on a newborn zebra and killed it within moments of the foal standing up for the first time.
The brutal footage was captured by American tourist Mckenna Wentworth who was on a safari in south-west Kenya with her parents.
The 30-year-old, from Minnesota, recorded the 30-minute encounter from just 100 feet away as the lion snatched its prey, sinking its teeth into the zebra’s neck.
In the clip, the mother zebra can be seen standing in the open beside its newborn foal, which is lying on the ground, with a herd of wildebeest in the background.
The 70lb baby slowly emerges from its amniotic sac before struggling to its feet.
It takes its first tentative steps before the lion suddenly bounds into shot and heads straight for the helpless newborn.
The 400lb predator bites down on the foal’s neck and pierces it with its four-inch-long teeth.
The newborn goes limp before the lion drags its prize away to the audible gasps of the safari party watching.
The brutal footage, which saw the lion pounce on the newborn, was captured by Mckenna Wentworth while travelling on a safari in south-west Kenya with her parents
The mother zebra can be seen standing in the middle of a field beside its newborn foal, which is lying on the ground, with a herd of wildebeest in the background
Speaking about the event, Mckenna said: ‘I fully understand the circle of life and that everyone has to eat, but the way the lion just walked up and broke the zebra’s neck was brutal.
‘I was in complete shock. I’m a huge animal person and I’m also a vegetarian. The idea of seeing anything die is just heartbreaking.
‘It all started when we noticed from a distance that some other animals were acting strange, so our tour guide drove closer and we saw that the mother zebra was in labour.
‘You could actually see her contractions because of the stripes on her body moving.
‘Our tour guide was pretty sure that the lion would leave the newborn zebra alone as we had previously seen the lions mating and he told us they don’t often hunt after mating.
Just minutes later the lion suddenly bounds into shot and heads straight for the helpless newborn
It breaks the foal’s neck with its four-inch-long teeth before dragging its prize away to the audible gasps of the safari party watching
‘The lion waited about thirty minutes, but he just couldn’t resist and walked right up and ate the baby.
‘I was mesmerised by how young the baby was, yet it still had the instinct to attempt to run away from the lion.
‘The mother zebra walked back to where the placenta sack was and cried a cry that will haunt me forever.
‘It was the most heartbreaking thing I have seen. it was really emotionally heavy, and we pretty much ended the safari for that day.’
Zebras have one of the longest gestation periods of any mammal in the animal kingdom. The average female is pregnant for just under 13 months and only gives birth to a single foal at a time.