A wolf and a moose battle each other for survival in this rare video footage

Filmmaker Dan Nystedt was filming scenic views in Ontario, Canada, when he spotted a moose standing in knee-deep water in what made for a serene, picturesque aerial shot.

Little did he know—this moose sighting was about to get much, much more exciting.

As the camera pans out on the moose, suddenly a wolf makes his way into the water. He makes a beeline for the moose. The moose stomps repeatedly, trying to get the wolf to recede to the edge of the lake.

Despite the difference in size, the wolf doesn’t back down and eventually gets ahold of the moose.

The moose wisely begins to move into deeper water—forcing the wolf to swim to keep up.

Eventually, the wolf gives up and turns away, and the moose is safe—for the time being.

The Internet Can’t Get Enough

Clearly this incredible footage is gaining some attention online, with some people even taking sides.

There are those who are “Team Moose.”

Others think it was pretty daring of the wolf to go after the moose in the first place. One Twitter user assumed the wolf must have been starving in order to tackle such a massive creature.

Yes, Wolves Eat Moose

Despite the size difference, it turns out a wolf going after a moose isn’t all that rare. According to Scientific American, in some cases moose are wolves’ primary source of nutrition.

The Scientific American article focuses on Isle Royale, a secluded island in Lake Superior not far from the Canadian border that’s part of a cluster of islands that make up Isle Royale National Park. On the island, “the moose are the wolves’ chief nutritional source.”

And, interestingly, the wolves are their only predators.

The article goes on to describe how this predator-prey relationship brings balance to both species.

“The wolves, in turn, help keep the moose population in check,” the article author, Adam Hadhazy, writes. “But when the wolves eat too many moose, the resulting food shortage pares down the former’s number, controlling their population, as well.”

You Can’t Beat This Filmmaker’s Timing

Thanks to one perceptive filmmaker, you can watch this circle of life—or at least an attempt at it—in action in the wow-worthy video below.

Nystedt posted it to YouTube on Oct. 9, noting that he’d captured the footage “happenstance while shooting some scenics in Northern Ontario.” He continued that he “was excited by the moose sighting” and “as I was leaving something unexpected took place.”

When it comes to predator hunting prey, we know these occurrences happen in nature all of the time. But being able to see them unfold on camera is something else.

This isn’t the first time rare moose footage has been caught on video, either. Rare white moose have been caught on film both in Alaska and Sweden.