By Rebecca Drew
THE INCREDIBLE moment a canny zebra escaped the jaws of a five-hundred-pound crocodile has been revealed.
The stunning series of images showed the 440-pound zebra as it attempted to cross a river where a powerful 16-foot-long croc was lurking under the surface.
Pictures revealed how the opportunistic reptile predator violently lifted the five-foot-tall zebra out of the water by the neck and sent droplets of blood flying as it pierced the zebra’s skin.
Another image showed how the zebra’s defensive struggle paid off as it managed to escape the jaws of the hungry crocodile and flee to the safety of the riverbank.
The remarkable shots were taken by photographer Harman Singh Heer (19) from Perth, Australia, at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Harman used a Canon EOS 1DX M2 with a Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens to capture the lucky zebra’s plight from 230-feet away.
“In the images, you can see one of the zebras being attacked by a crocodile, a common occurrence during these river crossings,” said Harman.
“However, what was surprising was that the zebra managed to escape from the jaws of the croc and make it out alive to see another day or perhaps only another few hours.
“It was difficult to see how badly injured the zebra was and considering the herd had crossed into the territory of the Paradise Plains pride of lions, this now weaker zebra may have been an easy target.
“It is somewhat rare, especially considering the crocodile had captured the zebra by its neck yet it escaped.
“Although, I think the zebra managed to escape because the water level of the river in that section wasn’t too high and the crocodile was unable to drown the zebra.
“People are often quite amazed and shocked that I witnessed this encounter.
“These pictures show that no matter how much life is tearing you down, there is always a way to escape and make things better for yourself and your future.”
Africa’s largest crocodiles can reach a maximum size of about 20 feet and can weigh up to 1,650 pounds with average sizes being in the range of 16 feet and 500 pounds.
They live throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Basin, and Madagascar in rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps.
They eat mainly fish but will attack almost anything unfortunate enough to cross its path including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles.
