In the picture, the poor animal is dragged into the riverbed as it tries to cross the water during the annual migration of 300 zebras.
Before, when it had just landed on the water’s edge, a group of fierce crocodiles rushed over and dragged it into the river.
The Nile crocodiles with 2.5 tons of bite force swallowed the zebra within seconds. The ill-fated zebra appeared not long after with its head and legs floating.
These scary pictures were taken by French photographer Jean-Francois Raux, 70, during a trip to Kenya.
He had seen herds of zebras gather on the riverbank a few days before they mustered up the courage to cross the river.
The photographer said: “Everything happens in the blink of an eye. About three hundred zebras crossed the river in a single row. Groups of crocodiles from two to three began to attack the zebras that were jumping to avoid them.
“When it emerged, the zebra’s head appeared to be alive, its eyes full of supplication,” Mr Raux said.
‘Everything happened very quickly. More than forty crocodiles competed with each other to tear the zebra apart. It was a real carnage.”
Crocodiles are famous for their method of slicing their prey by biting and turning around in the water. That way, they can tear a large chunk of flesh from the victim’s body.
Crocodiles have an extremely slow metabolism and can go without food for days. However, once they are hungry, they can eat up to 250 kg of meat at a time.
This top predator doesn’t take any effort to butcher a zebra. They can even knock down prey weighing more than 1 ton.
Every year, herds of migratory zebras risk their lives to cross the rivers of the Maasai Mara to reach new pastures. Of course, the crocodiles are always quietly waiting for them in the calm river.