An angry rhino mother scared off a herd of 15 elephants in a clash of the titans caught on camera.

Although outnumbered by the elephants the mother stood her ground and protected her calf, and then ‘exploded’ into a sprint and ran directly towards the elephant, sending them scattering in all directions in a cloud of dust.

The epic confrontation was captured by carpenter Martin Meyer, who was visiting a national park in South Africa when he spotted a rhino mum with her young calf.

Martin, who captured the images in mid-January, said: ‘A herd of about 15 elephants, consisting of a matriarch and a few youngsters and a few sub adult bulls, were approaching and going to cross the path of the mum and the calf.

‘When they were around 20 metres away from her position she exploded into a sprint with the baby following.

‘After recovering from the initial shock the elephant herd regrouped and aligned themselves next to one another to slowly move closer to the rhino mum, almost taunting her. Some of the young bulls even moved around and circled them from behind.’

More than three minutes of stand-off followed as the rhino mother and the matriarch of the elephants stared at each other, before the rhino gave a low snort and moved over the hill.

Although it is not known how long the mother rhino’s horn was, the longest in white rhino can reach over a metre and a half. Female white rhino can weigh up to two tonnes, while a fully grown female African elephant can weigh nearly three.

Armed with only her beautiful horn and her motherly instinct the mother rhino stood her ground and protected the calf, although she was completely outnumbered by the elephants, in stunning pictures captured in South Africa

A herd of about 15 elephants, consisting of a matriarch and a few youngsters and sub adult bulls, were approaching and going to cross the path of the mother rhino and the calf following behind her

When they were around 20 metres away from her position she exploded into a sprint with the baby following and ran directly towards the elephants, sending them scattering in all directions, with a cloud of dust appearing as a result

As the dust settled the matriarch elephant broke her eye contact and position first, and began walking behind the two rhinos, changing her troops’ direction towards a water hole to the right of where the action happened

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After recovering from the initial shock the elephant herd regrouped and aligned themselves next to one another to slowly move closer to the rhino mum, almost taunting her, while some of the young bulls circled them from behind

More than three minutes of stand-off followed as the staring continued between the rhino mother and the matriarch of the elephants, in the stunning pictures captured earlier this year at an unnamed national park

Although it is not known how long the mother rhino’s horn was, the longest in white rhino can reach over a metre and a half. Female white rhino can weigh up to two tonnes, while a fully grown female African elephant can weigh nearly three

The photographer said he had noticed the mother react unusually and stare towards his left while he was admiring her magnificent horn and the cute calf, before the calf also turned to look in the same direction