A pair of foxes viciously fight to the death in a battle to claim a lone Vixen . The savage animals tumbled down a snowy Iceland mountainside and crashed onto the rocky beach below during the vicious struggle . Wildlife photographer Einar Gudmann caught the violent encounter on camera . He had been sleeping in his warm shelter when he was suddenly woken by howling . A pair of Arctic foxes viciously fight to the death on the snow in a battle to claim a lone Vixen . The amazing scene was captured on camera by wildlife photographer Einar Gudmann , who was woken up by howling . The two foxes fought each other in bitter sub-zero temperatures after one of them had been copulating with a vixen . After emerging into the bitter sub-zero temperatures , he spotted a female and male fox copulating . But the pair were n't alone - a third Arctic fox lurked nearby . Without warning the single fox emerged and began to growl and howl at the pair . Wiggling free , the female ran for the hills while the two male foxes began to fight . Mr Gudmann said : 'The female 's partner managed to grab and get a firm bite over the eye and under the jaw of the single one . A fox interrupts two others mating on a pebbly beach and decides to win over the vixen by fighting the other male . Squaring up : The two male foxes growl and bare their teeth at each other as the female turns her back on the tense situation . Fur flies : The two male foxes engage in a vicious fight , the female having fled the scene . One Arctic fox bares its teeth at its aggressor on a snowy hill near the beach where the fight began . One of the foxes makes a break for it on the snowy hillside , its fight having been captured on camera by wildlife photographer Einar Gudmann . The losing fox was not predicted to survive the night , having got no mercy from his opponent . The victorious fox makes its way back up the hill after the brief , but aggressive , fight . 'He used this to push the single one into the sea between the rocks . Splashes went bursting into all direction and moments later the single one was completely submerged and wet . 'Heavy and wet it was obvious at this moment that he had lost the fight . Now it was no longer a matter of fighting to kill , it was a matter of survival . 'He tried to run but got no mercy from his opponent . 'He finally managed to get into a dry area on the beach where they kept fighting . Heavily wounded and soaking wet he managed to run up the snowy hill but had trouble getting over the snow-bank at the top . ' The snow is whipped into the air by strong winds as one of the foxes desperately seeks shelter . One of the male foxes looks directly at Mr Gudmann 's camera as it trots through the snow . Meanwhile , the victorious fox shook off the shock of the brief yet aggressive fight and began a search of its female partner which had fled to the snowy mountainside . Mr Gudmann added : 'In the distance a wounded and vanquished arctic fox struggled the last steps up the snow-bank above the beach and started to hobble up the mountain . 'He had been beaten . The cold night would probably be his last one . '
Wildlife photographer Einar Gudmann caught the violent fox on horseback while he was camping in Iceland . After descending into bitter sub - zero temperatures from his tent he spotted a female and male fox copulating . But the pair were n't alone - a third Arctic fox lurked nearby and wasted no time in identifying his rival for the female . The losing fox was seen by the photographer limping off up a snowy hill and was n't expected to survive the ordeal .