Cheetah jumps into safari jeep, stuns tourist
An Irish holidaymaker got the shock of his life while on safari in the Maasai Mara National Reserve when a cheetah jumped into his vehicle.
Mickey McCaldin from Fermanagh in Northern Ireland was with his family in Kenya when the cheetah got up close and personal.
According to the Independent.ie the group were in an open Land Cruiser accompanied by a tour guide when the big cat jumped on board.
Mickey told the site: "That picture shows a teenage cheetah (if there is such a thing) but what happened is that Mom cheetah jumped on to our canvas roof which was so rotten you could see daylight through it."
See also: Cheeky cheetah pokes head through tourist's sunroof on safari (photos)
"Three siblings then followed their mom on to the roof - and that almost instigated heart failure as we could all hear the ominous sound of the ripping of the canvas roof."
Mickey says there was a split second moment where he thought he might be able to make a run for it, before realising the cheetah was probably "twice as fast as Usain Bolt".
Keen to capture the moment, David Horsey, who lives in Mombasa, snapped away on his camera as his friend sat dumb-founded in the back of the car.
Mickey says the animal then attempted to walk over his lap, but not being keen on the idea himself he shooed the cat away.
It wasn't just the brazen teenage cheetah that was keen to get in on the action however, a number of others also got involved by jumping onto the roof of the Land Cruiser, the Daily Mail reports.
Mickey's friend David Horsey said: "As we'd been around for a couple of days, I think they were used to the jeep so the mum jumped on top to get a better view.
"I think the other cheetah tried to follow her up but went a different way.
"Once it had got bored of Mickey it turned away and looked out of the vehicle for a few minutes."
Cheetahs are the fastest land animal in the world and according to Defenders there are somewhere between 9,000 and 12,000 of them left in the wild in Africa.
It's lucky the group didn't try to make a run for it as it's thought that the animals can reach speeds of over 100km/h.
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