Lion v Warthog: The stunning moment

This is the moment a warthog stepped into the path of a hungry lion and then became its prey.

The incredible pictures show the warthog step into the lion's den, but it was only ever going to end one way, as the predator then leaps out with brute force to capture the animal.

The lion then goes on to devour the wild pig, proving his status as top of the animal food chain.

The unsuspecting warthog steps into the path of an oncoming lion at the Addo Elephant Park in South Africa

The lion leaps out on to the warthog with brute force and pounces on its prey

The warthog tries to make a break for freedom but the lion is hot on its heels trying to recapture it

The stunning images were taken by photographer Dr Trix Jonker, of Bloemfontein in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, who managed to capture the action

The stunning images were caught on camera by photographer Dr Trix Jonker, at the Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

 Dr Jonker, 57, from Bloemfontein in the Free State province of South Africa, revealed she almost missed the moment as the warthog had a lucky escape first of all, but foolishly walked back into the lion's den and this time was not so lucky.

But she managed to capture the action at the perfect minute.

She said: 'It was getting late and the gates were closing in an hour. I looked away and when I looked back I saw the warthog coming straight towards some resting lions.

The lion wrestles the warthog to the ground sending a dust cloud up in the air

Dr Jonker said when the dust cleared she saw the lion holding the warthog between his front paws

The warthog had a lucky escape the first time it entered the lion's den, but the second time it wasn't so lucky

'The poor unsuspecting warthog did not spot the lions at all and she disappeared behind a bush where a lion was lying, and it was taken by surprise.

Dr Jonker revealed the warthog first had a lucky escape after it accidentally woke a sleeping lioness and startled her so she didn't attack.

But she couldn't believe her eyes when the same warthog went back into the lion's den.

She added: After the warthog escaped, I thought the action was over. But the warthog went back in a circle and went back on the same path as before, straight back into the lions.

The lion asserts his authority as top of the food chain as he takes a bite of the warthog who was unable to escape

The lion digs his teeth into the warthog he has just killed as he is joined by a lioness

'By this time, a male lion had woken up and was sat up straight trying to see what the commotion was.

'He saw the warthog coming and went straight into the attack position. This was when I had my camera poised as I knew this time something was going to happen.

'At one stage there was only this big dust cloud and I could not see what was happening.

The pictures were captured by Dr Trix Jonker, pictured, who said it was amazing she managed to capture the battle on camera

'Then when the dust cleared and I saw the lion holding the warthog between his front paws and looking straight at me.

'He stayed like that for quite a while then lifted the warthog into the air and started dragging her away.

'I couldn't believe how tough the warthog was, and was absolutely stunned by what I saw that afternoon. It's amazing I managed to capture it on camera.'

The wages of fear: The harrowing plight of the ship breakers

The sad beauty of these incredible images cast a light on the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh, where workers face death and injury from accidents and environmental hazards for just a few dollars a a day.

Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard is the largest of its type in the world. Around 80 active ship breaking yards line an eight-mile stretch of the coast, employing more than 200,000 Bangladeshis and accounting for half of all the steel in Bangladesh.

Ship breaking is the dismantling of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a 25-30 years before there is so much wear that repair becomes uneconomical, but the rising cost to insure and maintain aging vessels can make even younger vessels unprofitable to operate.

A satellite image shows a mile-long stretch of the Bangladeshi coast just north of Chittagong, where ships from around the world are beached and dismantled

Arduous: At low tide ship-breakers haul a 10,000-pound cable to a beached ship to winch pieces ashore as they dismantle it

Swarms of laborers from the poorest parts of Bangladesh use acetylene torches and their hands to slice the carcass into pieces. These are hauled off the beach by teams of loaders, then melted down.

 

Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially steel, to be recycled. Equipment, fuel and chemicals on board the vessel can also be reused.

Peter Gwin, writing for National Geographic, visited the region to see it first hand. He described the guards, razor wire-topped fences and signs prohibiting photography there, installed following scrutiny in the ship breaker's operations after a spate of deaths.

 

After workers spent several days cutting through the decks of the Leona I, a large section suddenly crashes, sending shards of steel flying toward the yard managers. Built in Split, Croatia, the cargo vessel was at sea for 30 years, about the average ship's life span

He said: 'In the sprawling shantytowns that have grown up around the yards, I met dozens of the workers. Many had deep, jagged scars. "Chittagong tattoos," one man called them.

'Some men were missing fingers. A few were blind in one eye.

'In one home I meet a family whose four sons worked in the yards. The oldest, Mahabub, 40, spent two weeks as a cutter's helper before witnessing a man burn to death when his torch sparked a pocket of gas belowdecks.

'"I didn't even collect my pay for fear they wouldn't let me leave," he says, explaining that bosses often intimidate workers to keep silent about accidents.' 

Fishermen place their nets at low tide in front of the ship-breaking yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Today Chittagong is partially soaked with oil and toxic mud.

Ship breaking is dangerous work and can expose workers to toxic chemicals. 

The work is back-breaking because these massive ships are not designed to come apart, but withstand some of the harshest conditions imaginable at sea.

They are often constructed with toxic materials, such as asbestos and lead.

When ships are scrapped in the developed world, the process is more strictly regulated and expensive, so the bulk of the world's shipbreaking is done in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, where labour is cheap and oversight is minimal.

The article about the ship breakers of Chittagong appears in the May issue of National Geographic. Right, a worker in a ship-breaking yard in Chittagong.