A daring bearded vulture took on a jackal as they scrapped over a carcass in South Africa, but eventually the peckish vulture and its friends had to leave empty handed.
The vulture had more difficulty picking up the snack than he bargained for when the jackals fought back, aggressively defending their position on the mountain.
The hungry bird took off after a tussle to join its fellow vultures, leaving the two black-backed jackals to fight among themselves.
Swooping down: The vultures join the jackal to scrap over a carcass left out on the mountain in Drakensberg, South Africa
Nasty peck: The vulture goes at the jackal with its sharp beak near a hut where visitors could birdwatch in the nature reserve
Nip on the ankle: The jackal will not give up the fight for the meat-covered bones after he got there firstThe carcass was put out for the vultures so that visitors to the Giants Castle Nature Reserve could view them closer, but the vultures were far too late by the ᴛι̇ɱe they arrived as the jackals had already claimed it.
This particular jackal, the black-backed jackal, is distinguished by its black and silver patch running down the length of its fur.
They are social animals, who usually join up with other jackals for the purpose of hunting large prey, but this ᴛι̇ɱe they seem to have fallen out among themselves as they challenged each other after the vultures had flown off.
Both the black-backed jackals and the bearded vultures are rare.
Home to both the eland and bearded vultures, the nature reserve is protecting the last 200 breeding pairs of the bearded vulture, which have a wing span of more than two and a half metres.
This reserve was initially created to protect the last herds of Eland, Africa’s biggest antelope species, but is now home to ɱaпy protected animals.
Wildlife photographer Mitchell Krog was only expecting to see the vultures feeding but was thrilled to capture them creatures scrapping with the vultures.
Mitchell explained: ‘The hide from where these images were captured is open for visitors to watch the bearded vultures and other endangered bird species.’
‘These images were captured when a group of jackals arrived on top of the mountain in the late afternoon to come and steal the meaty bones that were placed out for the vultures. ‘
The sets of images portray what ensued, which was a lot of fighting between the jackals themselves and the vultures.’
Making its escape: The vulture begins to fly away realising the jackal was going to continue fighting hard for its food
Parting shot: The animals have one last tussle before the vulture flies off in failure
Jackals win: Eventually the jackals ɱaпaged to see off the vulture who flew off to rejoin its fellow birds
The claws are out: The jackals launch at each other, carrying on fighting after vultures had left