During a visit to the West Midlands Safari Park in Worcestershire, UK, a group of tourists had a far-from-peaceful wildlife experience.

Instead of a serene outing, they witnessed a dramatic event that seemed more suited to a tense wildlife documentary than a leisurely park tour.

The scene changed abruptly when a group of lionesses unexpectedly targeted a male lion in their pride.

Amateur photographer Mya Beverstock captured this intense moment in 2018, providing tourists with a close-up view of nature's raw power as they traveled through the park in a safari vehicle.

Mya, who had visited the safari park with her parents in hopes of capturing some lion photos, vividly recalled the moment that altered the day's atmosphere.

"I decided to go to the safari park with my mum and dad to take some pictures of the lions.

"We had been sat there for a few minutes when we noticed these two male lions sitting on top a rock growling at something down below."

"We drove around a little bit and I noticed these female lionesses surrounding a male. All of a sudden they just pounced."

The footage captured by Mya depicted a startling scene as up to nine female lions launched an attack on a male, biting and pinning him to the ground in what appeared to be a ruthlessly coordinated manner.

"They were biting at his back legs and his neck and pinning him to the ground, it looked really vicious and you can see in his eyes he thought he was going to die," Mya recounted, conveying the intensity of the moment.

The attack was so unexpected that the park's keepers had to swiftly intervene to defuse the situation.

Safari vehicles quickly arrived at the scene, with one using its horn and another deploying a fire extinguisher to distract the lionesses.

"Within a flash, safari jeeps were there surrounding the lionesses. There were three vehicles, one was honking its horn while another sprayed an extinguisher," she recalled.

Mya offered several possible explanations for the attack, speculating on its underlying reasons.

"It could be that they thought he was too old to be their leader or it could have been over food," she said.

"He could have tried it on with one of the females, who knows, but they looked angry and pounced as if they are going in for the kill."

The male lion bore evident injuries after the attack, displaying "bite marks and cuts on his back legs" and appearing "pretty messed up."

The intensity of the encounter was unmistakable, as Mya observed:

"You could see car windows going up and almost hear doors locking as it happened, it was just really intense to watch and listen to the roars."

"[…] It's something you'd be lucky to see in Kenya, let alone a British safari park."