The passion for natural life in Africa often involves the big animals we love to see in documentaries: lions, leopards, elephants and rhinos always impress those who visit as well as those who saw the continent where humanity appeared from afar. But smaller animals are also capable of starring in dramatic scenes, as shown in this footage of a desperate fight between a mongoose and a lizard.

The incident happened in Kruger National Park, one of the main safari areas in South Africa, and was caught by tourist Maitseo Matlou, who shared his report with the news portal Latest Sightings .

“We had been driving for a while and there wasn’t much to see. Keeping my eyes glued to the road, I continued driving until movement caught my attention. Something is happening on the road and it’s very small. I took out my binoculars to see, there was an aggressive mongoose attacking a lizard,” Matlou said.

As seen in the video, the fight between small animals is fierce. Despite being larger and having stronger limbs, the mongoose has not gained a clear advantage over its counterpart for some time. The lizard struggled to free itself but had little chance of counterattacking.

But unfortunately for the lizard, the standoff didn’t last long. His chances dwindled after the mongoose changed tactics and attacked the reptile’s eyes. Since then, the latter’s ability to slow down has greatly decreased, and his opponents have managed to pull him to the side of the road. “At that point we lost sight, but we still knew what was going to happen,” Matlou said.