A mother elephant and her baby were attacked by a crocodile hiding under the surface of a watering hole in Sri Lanka. The video captures the intense scene of the mother elephant fiercely defending her baby from the dangerous predator, demonstrating these majestic creatures’ strong maternal instincts and protective nature.

The video shared on Twitter by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda shows a fierce face-off between the elephant and the crocodile, as the latter tries to attack the baby tusker.

The video opens to show a baby elephant taking a dip in a muddy water body as its mother keeps watch. Suddenly, a colossal crocodile emerges from under the water and attacks the calf. The mother elephant lunges at the crocodile and stomps on it forcing it to surrender and run away.

Mr. Nanda shared the video and wrote, ”The extent to which elephants can protect their calves is mind-boggling. Here is a small incident. The Crocodile had to surrender.”

One user wrote, , ”Intelligent, gentle, emotional beings”, while a fourth stated, ”Motherhood is beyond expectation.” Yet another added, ”Either she has elephant babies in the area and is stomping the hell out of the croc to keep it from harming any of their young, or… she already lost a baby in this spot to Crocs and is now exacting revenge.’