Dramatic footage shows a baboon with its arm trapped inside a crocodile’s jaw as it struggled to escape becoming the reptile’s next meal.
The photographs were taken in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya, and show the little monkey fighting bravely as he is dragged underwater.
The yellow baboon can be seen on the banks of the Tsavo River, which runs through the park, with its arms firmly inside the crocodile’s jaw.
It appears to be trying to flee its situation as the primate lunges toward dry land, apparently screaming in pain.
The crocodile then drags the baboon underwater and it appears the fight is over.
Surprisingly, the monkey somehow manages to escape the water and run away before becoming the crocodile’s next meal.
He didn’t emerge from the fight completely unscathed as the determined crocodile managed to inflict a nasty cut on the monkey’s cheek.
Nicolas Urlacher, who teaches Spanish in Nairobi, was the photographer behind the terrifying images.
The photographs were taken in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya, and show the little monkey fighting bravely as he is dragged underwater.
It appears to be trying to flee its situation as the primate lunges toward dry land, apparently screaming in pain.
The crocodile then drags the baboon underwater and it appears the fight is over.
The 46-year-old Frenchman said: ‘I saw a lot of baboons on the dry bank of the Tsavo River, I saw that there was a baboon in a puddle.
‘I thought what an original thing I want to do with a video of this baboon bathing, it’s very unusual.
‘So I started filming it and after a few seconds I saw it was very strange, the baboons were totally stressed seeing this baboon in the water.
‘They started screaming like crazy when he tried to get out of the water, so I thought for a second it was a big fight between baboons and that this one was running away from the others.
“Then I quickly realized that the baboon was not bathing, but had been caught by a crocodile.
‘The baboon managed to escape by a miracle, thanks to his cunning and patience.
‘What I like most about these photographs is, above all, the intense drama they capture.
Surprisingly, the monkey somehow managed to escape the water and flee the scene before turning into the crocodile for its next meal.
‘It is a drama about the harshest side of nature: a baboon with human features who is the victim of an animal that seems cold and almost robotic.
“These are difficult photographs to look at, but they represent a completely normal and natural situation, one we must accept because it is part of the natural order, despite our instinctive compassion for the baboon’s plight.”
Yellow baboons are native to East Africa and can be found roaming the savannahs of Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
They are among the most successful African primates and are not listed as threatened or endangered.