Impala jumps into car to evade chasing cheetahs

An impala made a daring dive into a car in a safari park in South Africa in a desperate bid to escape from two cheetahs.

Wildlife fanatics were watching from their vehicles as a herd of impalas rushed past, closely followed by two of the big cats.

Onlooker Samantha Pittendrigh captured the entire story on film and her video shows a panic-stricken impala that was close to being caught by a cheetah jump into the open window of a Toyota Prado.

Ms Pittendrigh said: "We saw the impala jump out of the bushes and then someone started screaming, 'It is in the car, it is in the car'. We heard a little girl screaming in the car."

Despite the drama and potential discomfort of the car's occupants, the impala's desperate plan worked, as it managed to evade the cheetah, which eventually skulked off.

However, the cheetah did eventually find its dinner, as one of its mates made a kill further along the road.