Incredible moment that an impala

cheated death by leaping into tourist's car

~

AN impala fleeing two hungry cheetahs escaped death

by leaping into a car full of screaming tourists.

~

In a case of survival of the fittest, the animal had looked a second away from death when an unexpected window of opportunity miraculously appeared.

Stunned Samantha Pittendrigh, 20, filmed as the impala jumped through the passenger side window of a Toyota Prado, sparking panic.

She said: "We started freaking out going crazy. We couldn't believe it. We were absolutely dumbstruck.

"We had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"We watched the cheetah chasing the impala. We saw a few of them turn around in the bushes towards the road they were running from.

"All of a sudden 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. The boy sitting outside the car filming looked a lot younger, so it must have been a family.

"People in other cars screamed 'open the door, open the door'."

In the confusion, one of the passengers managed to open a door and the impala is seen just seconds later trotting across the road to freedom.

The cheetahs were just yards away but do not give chase.
However, the world's fastest land-animal was not completely cheated, as one of them managed to make a kill 20m along the road, according to Miss Pittendrigh.
~

~

The incredible footage was captured in Kruger National Park, South Africa, where according to park rules you must stay inside your vehicle at all times.

Miss Pittendrigh, who is studying supply chain management at the University of Pretoria, was with her friends Tanith Human, 20, Carmen Thöle, 21, and Michelle De Jager, 21.

Unlike some of her friends, she has made several trips to Kruger National Park but was left stunned by this trip.

She added: "My family are so jealous. In all the years my parents have been going to Kruger Park they have never seen anything like it and we do go there regularly.

"It really is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and we managed to be in the right place at the right time.

"I was very happy to witness something like that but I felt a bit sorry for the cheetah.

"There are so many impala, it is not like they will miss one of them."
~