This has to be animal cruelty at its most gruesome - but for once it's at the hands (or paws) of the fauna themselves.

Incredible - yet disgusting - footage from South Africa shows a lion pulling an unborn foetus out of the buffalo it has just killed... and eating it.

Three male lions had taken down the female buffalo right next to a roadside watering hole.

What do we have here? Three male lions had taken down the female buffalo right next to a roadside watering hole.

Prize! One lion's appetite in particular cannot be satiated however and he continues feasting after the others leave. As it burrows its head in the bloody cavities of the dead animal it can be seen pulling out a fleshy object

The trio then proceeded to eat the chest of the buffalo - the chewed carcass of which can be seen lying on its back in the footage taken by a horrified couple at Kruger National Park.

One lion's appetite in particular cannot be satiated however and he continues feasting after the others leave.

As it burrows its head in the bloody cavities of the dead animal it can be seen pulling out a fleshy object.

'What is it?' the man watching wonders, 'It looks like a bit of stomach.'

Then suddenly, as the big cat makes off with its find, the woman gasps in shock, 'It's a baby!' she cries.

Disgusting: 'What is it?' the man watching wonders, 'It looks like a bit of stomach.' Then suddenly, as the big cat makes off with its find, the woman gasps in shock, 'It's a baby!' she cries

Lucky find: Unfazed by his own table manners the lion stalks towards its fellow feline resting in the shade of a tree. The baby swings from his mouth as he moves, its legs dragging along the ground

'That was pregnant, it got the baby out,' she says in disgust, 'Oh my goodness, gross.'

Unfazed by his own table manners the lion stalks towards its fellow feline resting in the shade of a tree.

The baby swings from his mouth as he moves, its legs dragging along the ground.

The lion then drops it under the tree - as its friend looks on with interest - and settles down for hearty lunch.

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa and became South Africa's first national park in 1926.

Horrified: 'That was pregnant, it got the baby out,' she says in disgust, 'Oh my goodness, gross'