Footage of the incident, which occurred in Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, shows how the striped animal risked her life to scare the predator off.
The fierce battle broke out after a stampede of zebras and buffalos fled in fear after being crept up on by the hunting lioness.
But one zebra foal was unable to flee the scene quick enough and fell victim to the big cat.
The footage shows the lion pouncing on the foal’s rear-end before biting on its throat.
It then drags the screaming baby to the ground in a bid to finish it off.
But the youngster’s fearless mum has other ideas and runs to the foal’s rescue.
She headbutts the lion as it continues to bite on the creature’s windpipe.
The mum finally manages to force the big cat to release the baby, but the adult zebra is not finished.
OUCH: The zebra kicked the lion in order to save the baby (Image: YOUTUBE)
She immediately runs around and kicks her hind legs into the face of the lion.
Clearly shaken from the booting, the lion jumps away.
The clip finishes with the mum and foal fleeing the scene while the helpless cat watches on.
After being uploaded to YouTube yesterday, the video has received masses of attention.
STAMPEDE: The animals were all running for their life after the lion crept up on them (Image: YOUTUBE)
One viewer wrote: “Good mum.”
Only yesterday a video of a wild dog playing dead while in the mouth of a lion hit headlines.
A clever chimp was filmed eating a tortoise after smashing its shell against a tree.
And only last week, a monkey took a bank worker hostage after climbing on his head while snarling at onlookers.