That’s cheet-ing! Moment cheetah hitches a ride on a safari jeep just inches from tourists in TanzaniaDenice Alex Massawe was leading a safari across the Serengeti, Tanzania A female adult cheetah jumped onboard Ms Massawe’s Toyota Land Cruiser The animal was patrolling the Serengeti along with its young cub in July 2021
This is the moment a tired cheetah decided to hitch a lift on a jeep taking visitors on a safari around the Serengeti national park.
Stunned tourists filmed a close-up view of the predator after it jumped aboard their vehicle.
The cheetah and her cub were spotted by Denice Alex Massawe, owner of Top Deck Safari in Tanzania, who said: ‘After searching for big cats for hours, we came across this cheetah and her daughter.
‘The experience was amazing.’
The cheetah, pictured, decided to hitch a lift on the Toyota Land Cruiser as it crossed the Serengeti national park in Tanzania
The predator jumped on the back of the land cruiser standing on top of the two spare wheels
The cheetah was patrolling the wildlife reserve along with her daughter, pictured, left
The footage, which was shot in July 2021, was recently shared online, where viewers described the encounter as ‘incredible’.
Cheetahs are renowned for their keen eyesight and dazzling speed, and are the world’s fastest land mammal, reaching speeds of up to 70mph – more than 30mph faster than a giraffe.
The numbers have plunged as a result of poaching, game shooting and even the fashion of having exotic cats as pets in the Middle East.
Some 3,600 wild cheetahs are believed to have been trapped and sold as pets over the past decade, leaving the animals as ‘critically endangered’ – leaving only about 70 cheetahs in the wild in parts of the Serengeti national park.
Last year safari guide Serena Van Staden filmed another cheetah close encounter in in Tanzania when the big cat jumped onto the open-top car and stood close to her head.
Van Staden was filming when the mother cat came over to the vehicle to explore.
Within minutes it had climbed onto the open-top car and was seen surveying the surrounding area from its new viewpoint.
Serena Van Staden was able to get an incredible selfie with a mother cheetah which was standing only inches above her head in the Serengeti, Tanzania
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