Incredible pictures show the moment a jackal rescued her cubs from the clutches of an eagle.

A tawny eagle swoops in and snatches a jackal away from its frightened mother in these photos taken in Masai Mara, Kenya.

The mother lunges at the predator, causing it to drop the baby in mid-air. It landed back on the ground unharmed, to the delight of its mother, who grabbed it and escaped the eagle’s reach.

Photographer Ateeb Hussain, 39, captured this impressive moment and said he first discovered the mother jackal with her baby in her mouth moving frantically.

At first, he thought it was looking for hyenas in the area, but 10-15 minutes after discovering the mother, a tawny eagle suddenly swooped down and tried to snatch the baby from its mother’s arms.

A tawny eagle swooped in and snatched the jackal away from its frightened mother

Photographer Ateeb Hussain, 39, captured this impressive moment in Masai Mara, Kenya and said he first spotted the mother jackal with her baby in her mouth moving around frantically.

She lunged at the predator, causing it to drop its cubs in mid-air. It landed back on the ground unharmed, to the delight of its mother, who grabbed it and escaped the eagle’s reach.

The jackal tried to escape the eagle’s reach for a while by overtaking it, but the predator came to attack the cub a second time and caught its prey.

“It happened so quickly and only lasted a few seconds,” Mr. Hussain said.

‘The eagle grabbed the cub, but the jackal rushed after it and the cub fell mid-flight.

‘It seems pretty good for all its troubles. Maybe the eagle didn’t have a safe enough grip.”

After a few minutes, the eagle chased the mother and child again but was unsuccessful so it finally gave up and flew away.

‘We followed the jackal for about a kilometer until we saw it reunited with its partner at a new location. The whole witnessing process must have lasted an hour and a half,” Mr. Hussain said.

‘In all my years exploring the wild, I don’t remember encountering a more rare or dramatic species interaction. The cub was quite lucky to fall and survive the grab attempt.”

At first, he thought it was looking for hyenas in the area, but 10-15 minutes after discovering the mother, a tawny eagle suddenly swooped down and tried to snatch the baby from the mother’s arms.

After a few minutes, the eagle chased the mother and child again but was unsuccessful so it finally gave up and flew away.