5 metre python chases tourists to their car while on safari

If snakes aren’t your thing, spare a thought for this group of wildlife watchers who came face-to-face with a giant python while on safari.

A group of tourists on safari in South Africa have met their match while driving through a remote part of the country in their Land Rover.

While wildlife-spotting on a dirt road near Durban, a group of tourists were filmed jumping into their cars and trying to flee when a giant 5m-long python made its way on to the bonnet of the car.

The video shows the snake taking on the car as the driver scampers into the front seat to drive away.

In the video, the ordeal starts when a man spots the reptile sitting underneath a boat which appears to be bogged on the dirt road.

After attempts to move the snake by grabbing its tail, the python slithers towards the white Land Rover and mounts the bonnet.

The driver in the 4WD tries to reverse away from the giant snake, which falls off the car, but instead of retreating — the python follows the fleeing vehicle.

The 5m-long python tried to chase down the group of tourists.

Despite the size of the snake, the African Rock Python is a non-venomous snake of sub-Saharan Africa. As the country’s largest snake, this species is one of the six largest snake species in the world.

The python appeared to pursue the car after it started to reverse backwards.

The African rock python kills its prey by constriction and often eats animals up to the size of antelope, occasionally even crocodiles. The snake reproduces by egg-laying and, unlike most snakes, the female protects her nest and sometimes even her hatchlings.

While the size of the snake does scare people, it very rarely kills humans.