
This is the shocking moment an angry elephant impaled a buffalo with its tusks, tossing it high in the air, before shaking it to death.

The unsuspecting buffalo had been snoozing under a tree in Maasai Mara, Kenya, when a female elephant surprised him and he charged at her.

After the buffalo headbutted the elephant, she retaliated by digging her tusks into the creature and tossing the buffalo into the air with full force.

The buffalo did not die immediately and rangers at the reserve think the animal must have been unwell to act so out of character.

The extraordinary scene was captured by amateur photographer Kimberly Maurer, 56, who was on holiday at the game reserve.

The 56-year-old said: 'I started looking through the images on the back of my camera immediately after the attack and became very excited to discover that I had actually captured the event in detail.

'This photograph was, no doubt, a once-in-a-lifetime capture for me. As you would imagine, his carcass was a meal for another animal or two.'

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This is the shocking moment an unsuspecting buffalo was tossed high in the air by an elephant in the middle of the Maasai Mara, Kenya

The buffalo had been snoozing under a tree in Masai Mara, Kenya when a female elephant surprised him and he charged at her

A series of amazing photographs show the huge elephant impaling the buffalo with one tusk before lifting him high into the air

The three baby elephants watch on and appear to be making a lot of noise as the female continues to shake the buffalo, who died after the attack

Buffalo can weigh up to 590kg so it was unsurprising the elephant was soon forced to back off and drop the animal back to the ground

The buffalo lay completely still on the ground after being mauled by the huge elephant, who continued to nudge him with her trunk

The unusual scene was captured by amateur photographer Kimberly Maurer, who was on holiday at the game reserve

The female elephant - who appeared to only have one tusk - can be seen leaving the area with his herd but still appeared to be on high alert, with her head held high in the air



