WATCH: Lioness sets her sights on newborn giraffe in Kenya

While still learning to walk, a newborn giraffe had to fight for its life against a hungry lioness…and while the giraffe escaped the lioness, the ending is something you’d never expect!

Intense battle between lioness and giraffe over newborn calf

The wildlife app, Latest Sightings shared what people believe is “very sad” footage indeed.

It is said that the unbelievable sighting was captured by wildlife photographer and owner of Escape Safari Co, Don Heyneke and Rustom Framjee from Safarinut Safaris while on safari in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Masai Mara, Kenya.

“A female giraffe gave birth to a baby calf. A half an hour after being born, giraffes are already able to walk with only minimal stumbling and, within 10 hours, they are able to run,” Don explained.

“Unfortunately for this young calf, a hungry lioness and hyena showed interest in the calf right after it was born.”

Escaping a lioness

The interested lioness and hyena were trailing the giraffe and her calf, but the hyenas quickly lost interest, leaving only the lioness who was almost herding the herd for over 6 km.

“The newborn calf was knocked over several times by its mother while trying to escape the lioness. After walking, the giraffe and her baby, who at this point had not even had a sip of milk in its life yet, reach a dead-end caused by a riverbed.”

The lioness crept up to them, thinking this is the finale of an already intense series.

“The mother tried to protect her calf from the lioness and panicked – accidentally bumping the newborn down a cliff. The newborn calf was now stuck in the riverbed, the mother went outside the riverbed and tried to coax the young calf out but it was too weak to climb the bank.”

Expect the unexpected in the wild

The calf – at this point – stood no chance against the apex predator who took the opportunity to grab the calf and carry it towards the water.

“The mother did her best to protect her newborn calf and chased the lioness away multiple times. At this point, we thought the calf was 100% dead.”

But, to everyone’s surprise, the calf ended up finding safety in the river where it fell asleep from exhaustion. Unfortunately, the baby giraffe, in a fight for survival like no one has ever seen before, drowned.

“Holy crap… surely this footage will win awards… that last shot is one of the most amazing (and tragic) bits of wild footage I’ve ever seen,” said one YouTube user in the comment section. “As far as nature videos go this one has to be the saddest I’ve ever seen,” said another.