The 15-foot crocodile was floating through the waterways of Sᴏᴜᴛʜ Aғʀɪᴄᴀ’s Kruger National Park while holding the head of a zebra in its mouth when a hippo enjoying some downtime with its offspring discovered it. The mother hippo was incensed by the crocodile’s presence and charged at it, clamping its teeth millimeters from the reptile’s head as it attempted to Bɪᴛᴇ it.

Renata Ewald, a wildlife photographer, was observing the crocodile with its prize prey when she witnessed the unbelievable sight come to pass. She heard from people on her way to Lower Sabie that a crocodile caught a zebra Sunset Dam so she made the decision to stop there in the hopes of still catching a glimpse of it.

At first, it appeared like everything was finished. On the far left of the dam, she observed one hippopotamus and ᴄʟᴏsᴇ to her in the water, she noticed a tiny hippo baby. The big hippo suddenly charged at the crocodile. Reneta was astounded by how quickly the mother hippo went through the water.

She seemed like she was about to split the crocodile in half. She was a very angry hippo mother. The panicked crocodile quickly turned around, reluctant to lose grasp of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ zebra even if it meant losing his life. The hippo’s Bɪᴛᴇ missed the crocodile’s head by a few millimeters.

The crocodile plunged under the water after narrowly escaping ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ, still holding its victim in its jaws. After the ᴄʟᴏsᴇ encounter with the hippo, the crocodile was forced to retreat back to the other crocodiles in the dam, who seized the opportunity to take his dinner.