The video footage shows the adolescent male cheetah cub nervously approach the watering hole and timidly laps at the water.
In an instant, the 13-foot Nile crocodile leaps from the water and grabs the young cheetah in its powerful jaws. The strength of the assault is so great it forces the cheetah up into the air, before he gets dragged under the surface.
The cheetah can be seen struggling with the croc as he gets pulled under, but the force of the attack is just too much for him.
WildEarth safari guide Busani Mtshali, 30, from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, captured the incredible footage at &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, while leading a tour.
“It is so painful,” the guide can be heard saying, after witnessing the dramatic attack.
“It is more than the word painful. There is nothing really we can do because the croc was just ambushing the cheetah when the young cheetah cub went down to drink water.