This is the moment a jaguar saunters into a sheep enclosure on a farm before snatching a member of the flock and jumping over a fence.

The jaguar can then be seen gently thrashing the animal against the ground and slowly dragging it away.

This occurred in a town known as Ponto Belo in Espirito Santo, Brazil, on Saturday, 29th October, according to local media reports.

In the video, the startled flock can be seen backing into a corner after a prowling jaguar enters their cage.

The big cat then grabs a sheep and jumps over the fence in the blink of an eye before it clumsily tumbles to the ground with the frightened animal and flees the scene.

The owner of the farm told local media that he believes that the dazzling big cat may have been stalking the property in search of food after mothering a cub.

Environmental Military Police in the region are now scaling the area for the spotted feline and have reportedly seized a small jaguar cub.

Local media outlets said that this is not the first time an attack of this kind has occurred in the region.

Some 15 sheep were recently killed in the space of four years on a nearby farm while reports claim that a number of animals have survived jaguar attacks on farms in the area.

The jaguar (Panthera) is native to both South America and parts of the United States and is currently listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the ICUN’s red list.

This is a result of poaching, jaguar habitat fragmentation and human-wildlife conflict, or HWC.