Video shows the tense moment a cheetah explored a safari group's car

Inside Edition Staff

A cheetah turned the tables on a safari group hoping to get a closer look of the animal in the wild.

The group was on safari in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park when the curious cat suddenly climbed inside their Land Rover.

Incredible footage shows the cheetah inspecting the backseat of the vehicle while Britton Hayes, of Seattle, sits frozen in fear.

The safari guide told him not to move a muscle or make eye contact with the cheetah to build up trust.

While Hayes was terrified, he said the experience was exhilarating.

"I was scared to death, but I’ve never felt more alive," he told KOMO News following the encounter.

View this post on Instagram

Close Encounter Here’s a video clip from my last Safari: The video shows my stepson Britton Hayes who was on his first trip to Africa with his dad.. We had come across several cheetah who were taking a midday break. We stoped for lunch while observing them. After a time they got up and started to move in unison as we were photographing from the road. They moved diagonally across our field of view and as they neared the vehicle the two younger brothers broke off and came towards us. The cheetah makes use of high points such as termite mounds to scan the environment. Apparently we represented a unique scouting platform to them. Before we knew it, one jumped on the hood of the safari vehicle while the other made use of the spare tires out back to get into the rear window. Britt credits our experienced guide Alex with helping him stay calm and asked me to film him. While Britt was frightened we never felt any threat coming from the cheetah. After a short exploration the three of them moved away to continue their hunt. An amazing experience we will never forget. . #ig_shotz #worldshotz #natgeo #theworldshotz #splendid_animals #wildlifeonearth #wildlifeaddicts #natgeowild #natgeohub #natgeowildlife #africananimals #serengeti #exclusive_wildlife @peterheistein

A post shared by Peter Heistein (@peterheistein) on Mar 28, 2018 at 10:59pm PDT

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