This is the hilarious moment a stork appeared to get its head stuck in the jaws of a hungry crocodile.

The yellow-billed bird was fishing in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania when it spotted the head of a tiger fish floating in the water.

But as it picked the snack up in its beak, a four-metre long reptile suddenly appeared in the shallows.

This is the hilarious moment a stork appeared to get its head stuck in the jaws of a hungry crocodile while fishing on a lake in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania

For a second it looked as though the stork had been caught up in the action, with its head dangerously close to the beast’s jaws.

Luckily the crocodile managed to avoid snapping the bird and instead left it to continue fishing.

Mark Sheridan Johnson captured the stunning set of images while at work as a safari guide.

The 35-year-old said: ‘I noticed the stork was playing with something in the water, it turned out to be the head of a tiger fish.

The yellow-billed bird was attempting to find a fish in the shallows of the lake in the African reserve

The beautiful bird can be seen plunging its beak into the water in the hope it will find a tasty snack

The stork manages to pluck out the head of a tiger fish, which was floating just underneath the surface of the water

‘While playing with the fish head the stork attracted the attention of a young crocodile, who came swimming in at speed to steal the bird’s dinner.

‘Once the croc had the fish, the stork realised the battle was lost, so decided to carry on fishing near the crocodile.’

A stork’s diet mainly consists of small fish, which they swallow whole.

But within seconds a hungry four-metre long crocodile appears from nowhere and snatches the fish

The reptile uses its strong jaws to eat the morsel, which it amazingly stole without harming the stork

Storks and crocodiles often fish together and have a fairly harmonious relationship, photographer Mark Sheridan Johnson said

The photographer added that it was common to see storks fishing close to crocodiles.

He added: ‘They know that as the croc moves along the shoreline of the lake, it will scare fish away from it, which the stork will catch.

‘Similarly you’ll find different species of birds such as the yellow billed stork and the spoonbill hunting side-by-side. This is called a “twin hunting strategy”.’