This is the dramatic moment a mother antelope clashed horns with a three-tonne rhino which strayed a little too close to her calf at a safari park.
Dramatic: The stand-off saw the antelope refuse to back down when the beast approached her calf – and at one point even clashed horns with it
Coming together: The antelope, Ramina, kept her baby Phoenix behind her at all times as she charged at the massive rhino, Njanu
Keepers say Ramina, a scimitar oryx antelope, was being overly defensive of her baby on her first outing in the park following a difficult birth.
Taking him on: Keepers say Ramina, a scimitar oryx antelope, was being overly defensive of her baby in the park following a difficult birth
Coming together: The calf, who lives at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, was brought back to life by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after birth
She displayed real maternal courage to stand up to him so bravely
Dan Gray, Longleat Safari Park keeper
Come on then: The scimitar oryx – oryx dammah in Latin – gets its name from its scimitar-shaped horn which can measure up to 5ft in length
It’s back: Originally from North Africa, the oryx antelope is thought to have gone extinct in the wild in 1999 – due to hunting and loss of habitat
The horns are made from hollow bone, so can break off quite easily and do not grow back – making one horned oryx a relatively common occurrence.