Have you ever had a lovely dinner party ruined when an unwanted, uninvited dinner guest turns up?
Well, these angry lions have – they were enjoying a delicious meal of antelope steak on the banks of a river in Zambia when, all of a sudden, a crocodile turned up and tried to sneak a bite to eat.
Double take: The lions look by turns angry, shocked and bemused by their unexpected dinner guest – who just wanted a helping of antelope to himself
The fearless Nile crocodile – known as charmingly enough as ‘Fred’ to residents of South Luangwa, Zambia – risked taking on two fearsome adult females who were feeding their cubs.
On the approach: The crafty and apparently fearless three-metre crocodile makes the sneaky crawl to the dinner table
Closer still: You can almost feel the crocodile’s hunger as he opens his jaws wide and looks at the scene
You can see how engrossed they are: There’s almost no room at the table as the lions devour their prey – but the croc will find a way
Get out of here! The lions are stunned by the sneak attack, and with a roar they tell the crocodile to back off – and the petty thief makes a break for it
‘And don’t come back!’: The mood of the meal is ruined, with the lioness staring at the interloper who ruined their meal
Not happy: The lions make sure the crocodile – known as Fred – does not make another attempt, walking him away from the table
Photographer and bushcamp manager Oli Dreike, 34, from The Bushcamp Company, was just 20 metres away in his tent when the action unfolded.
And just to make sure, the lionness roars her disapproval: It looks like the aggressive animals took a few seconds to come to their senses following the rude interruption