This incredible image of a lion and cheetah has caused quite a stir

At first glance it looks like this poor cheetah just became lunch for a hungry lion. But turns out it’s just a clever optical illusion.

In the fascinating shot, taken in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve by award-winning wildlife photographer Saeed Aljafar, the two cats are so perfectly lined up that the lion appears to be biting the cheetah’s head off.

But they were actually a fair distance apart – with the cheetah posed against the skyline and the lion in the foreground, surveying its kingdom.

“Cheetahs entered the lion's territory in the late evening and the male lion started pursuing them, attempting to get them out,” Saeed,, who hails from Kuwait and has been photographing wildlife for nearly 30 years, explains.

“While one of the cheetahs was sitting in the skyline, the lion remained to rest, and it appeared as though the head of the cheetah was inside the lion's mouth.”

The image quickly went viral with wildlife fans calling it “mind-blowing” and “surreal”

Sources: dailymail.co.uk, catersnews.com, Instagram