These are the dramatic scenes as a jackal and a vulture fight with each other for the rights to feast upon a wildebeest leg which had been left on Kenya’s Masai Mara.
And unlike Fredrick Forsythe’s thrilling novel, this time the jackal succeeds in his mission.
The jackal was carrying the wildebeest leg when the vulture swooped down, forcing it to drop the carrion.
During a tense standoff, the far larger vulture attempted to intimidate the smaller animal by extending its wings and attempting to tower over the jackal.
The two-minute-long fight was observed by German photographer Ingo Gerlach.
She said: ‘The Jackal won and ran off with the bone. The vulture just looked like a sore loser. I love the special moments you experience when photographing animals. Especially when you witness fighting and survival scenes like this.’
This is the amazing scene as a vulture swooped down from the sky in a bid to steal a wildebeest leg from a jackal in the Masai Mara, Kenya
The jackal closed its eyes as the scavenging vulture closed in on the section of wildebeest leg
The jackal refuses to drop the wildebeest leg despite the intense level of intimidation displayed by the far larger vulture
The vulture, which is far larger than the jackal, attempted to intimidate the smaller animal by expanding its massive wings
Having being foiled with its first attempt to hijack the jackal’s wildebeest leg, the vulture considers a different method of attack
Instead, the vulture decided to use its aerial advantage and in typical fashion launched its attack from behind
The jackal was forced to drop the wildebeest leg, left, as the vulture’s large talons rapidly approached so it could defend itself
The jackal deftly turned around to defend the wildebeest leg from the far larger aggressor
The vulture again tried to buzz the jackal and force him away from the area allowing the bird to devour the wildebeest leg alone
The vulture manages to force the jackal away from the wildebeest leg, but the smaller animal still has no intention of giving up
Eventually the vulture decides that the jackal is a far too determined adversary and it should fly off to find some less well defended carrion
Photographer Ingo Gerlach said: ‘The Jackal won and ran off with the bone. The vulture just looked like a sore loser. I love the special moments you experience when photographing animals. Especially when you witness fighting and survival scenes like this’