Yatsey the vulture, died aged 22 after he was bitten by a lionness at Colchester Zoo
This is the shocking moment two lionesses tear apart a vulture in front of horrified zoo visitors.
The bird flies into the lion enclosure but gets its talon trapped in the top netting.
As it desperately tries to free itself, a lioness suddenly emerges from its den eyeing the bird intently.
She approaches slowly at first but then breaks out into a run prompting a sharp intake of breath from those watching.
The lioness is joined by another and the pair of them circle underneath the vulture before one takes a leap and swipes the bird to the floor with her giant paws.
Both of the big cats then tear into the poor creature amid shouting and screaming from distraught visitors at Colchester Zoo in Essex.
The lioness spots Yatsey the vulture fly on top of the lions’ enclosure at the Essex zoo
The lioness pounces and gets Yatsey, who had been at the zoo for 22 years
As this exclusive video shows, one of the lionesses walks off with the vulture in her impressive jaws.
Zookeepers later retrieved the Eurasion Griffin Vulture from the enclosure alive but it died on the way to the animal hospital from shock.
The vulture was named as 22-year-old Yatsey who had been free flying at the time during an educational bird display.
It is thought he was blown into the lion enclosure by strong winds.
A shocked family who witnessed the attack on Sunday told the Ipswich Star: ‘It’s a bit unbelievable, really.
A zoo visitor captured a video of the much loved vulture’s last moments
The lions in the enclosure at Colchester Zoo. Onlookers said it was a ‘terrifying’ experience
‘We were watching the falcon display and the trainer said, we’re going to have to try something different with the vulture today because the winds are blowing in a different direction.
‘Obviously, the vulture didn’t do what they hoped it would do because it just carried on flying off and you could hear the trainer saying, ‘Where’s he going? Where’s he going?
The incident was almost identical to one in 2012 when a barn owl was killed after becoming spooked during a falconry display and flying into the lion enclosure.
A spokesman for the zoo said: ‘The keepers of the displays team had built a very close bond with Yatsey, as they do with all the animals in their care, and so this is a very sad time for them.’