Family of five chased by cheetahs at safari park

May 11 (UPI) -- A family of five who got out of their car at a safari park in the Netherlands had a close call when they were chased back to their vehicle by cheetahs.

Video filmed by witnesses in another car at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park shows the family, which includes very small children, getting out of their car to get a closer look at some cheetahs lounging nearby.

The family returns to their car moments later without incident and drive a ways up the road, where they again get out of their vehicle.

The cheetahs, which apparently followed the vehicle up the road, then appear and aggressively chase the people back to the road, where they quickly get back into the car.

A woman carrying one of the small children manages to get back to the car moments after a cheetah lunges at her.

Niels de Wildt, a manager at the safari park, said guests are warned in multiple languages not to get out of their vehicles on park grounds.

"The cheetahs are on a food schedule so they are not extremely hungry and are not in the hunt," de Wildt told Netherlands broadcaster NOS.

"In the first instance they have the same reaction as when someone rings in unexpectedly, they think: 'Hey, something strange is happening in our territory,'" he said. "But in the end they do respond to this exceptional visit, and these people have been incredibly lucky."