Striking photos taken by a holidaymaker show the moment a female elephant impaled a buffalo after it got too close to her three young.

Kimberly Maurer, 56, was visiting the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya when the confrontation took place.

She said: “As our vehicle pulled forward a bit, we noticed a Cape buffalo asleep under a bush.”

She added: “As we were watching the elephants grazing and moving toward us, the Cape buffalo raised his head and stood up, which must have been a threatening movement for the elephants.”

At this point the two animals charged at each other and clashed heads with the buffalo, at a significant size disadvantage, collapsing to the ground.

Kimberly said: “We were in complete shock as [the elephant] then bent down and literally skewered the buffalo with her single tusk and lifted it straight up over her head with her tusk protruding from the other side of the buffalo.”

The elephant then slammed the bovine animal to the ground before herding her family away and trumpeting at the mortally wounded creature.

The tourist said: “This photograph was, no doubt, a once-in-a-lifetime capture for me.”