A French family of five have been filmed narrowly escaping attack by cheetahs in a Dutch safari park after they left their car to take photographs and were chased by the big cats. Beekse Bergen is a drive-through African wildlife safari park, in the south of the Netherlands, where visitors are under strict instruction not to leave their cars. Apparently blithely unaware they were risking death or injury from the wild beasts who roam free in the park, the tourists were filmed leaving their French-registered car with two young children. The cheetahs can be seen calmly sunning themselves when the family gets out to take snaps. Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land Credit: BBC At first the big cats fail to react. The family can then be seen driving a little further down the road and striding up a small hill within yards of the animals, who suddenly snap into action. Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 mph. They are built for speed, grace, and hunting and mainly prey on small antelopes such as Thomson's gazelles and impalas. But they are clearly interested in the humans and appear to start stalking their prey. The clueless tourists only spot the cheetahs at the last minute and make a panic-stricken dash for their vehicle. All, except one woman, who can be seen picking up the youngest child and apparently shooing the cheetahs away before slipping into the car. They then drive off miraculously unscathed. A spokesman for Beekse Bergen park said they make it clear it is strictly forbidden to leave one’s vehicle during the safari.  'We inform visitors about the risks in several languages throughout the park,' the spokesman told Dutch broadcaster NOS.  Dutch news website VK Mag suggested introducing “mandatory IQ tests” for anyone wanting to do the safari.

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