Is This Pegasus?

Pegasus takes flight! Or how a trick of the eye created a mythical creature in the wild

At first glance it looks like Pegasus, a winged divine horse from Greek mythology, or something out of a Harry Potter movie.

However this extraordinary mutation of antelope and bird is actually a clever optical illusion.

The picture was taken as the antelope was being pursued by an Indian Sarus Crane, the tallest flying bird in the world.

Just an illusion: it might look like a mythical creature at first glance, but the crane is behind the antelope

The Indian Sarus Crane, the tallest flying bird in the world, as it looks without an antelope in front of it

The animal had stumbled upon the bird's nest and had quickly been shooed away by the protective mother.

As the chase ensued, amused onlookers at the Keoladeo National Park, in Rajasthan, India, noticed the animals appeared to blend in to one.

The spectacle was caught on camera by photographer Jagdeep Rajput, who said people had compared the mutation to Pegasus, a mythical winged horse.

Mr Rajput, 49, from Delhi, added: 'The crane had laid a single egg and when the bull got close she chased it away.