A wild lion gets closer to a couple in their tiny, red car and even pawed at the door trying to get inside.

Peter and May Craig Cooper were on holiday in South Africa when they spotted a four-year-old big cat wandering nearby.

The curious predator got close to a small car and padded purposefully over to the driver’s side where the window was still wide open.

Understandably concerned by the lion’s presence, the driver rolled his window up but that only piqued the animal’s interest as it sniffed the wing mirror and hit the bodywork with its paw.

Over the course of 10 minutes, the animal walked around all sides of the car looking for a way inside.

Peter said: “We’ve been visiting Kgalagadi every summer for 35 years and haven’t seen anything like this before. When the lion first walked over to them, the couple was really interested in getting a closer look. But when it got very near, they panicked and rolled the window up. It was like the lion had been challenged by them. That’s when it started to paw at the door trying to get at the driver. The lion tried for about 10 minutes to get inside. It was very determined. We were just so fascinated by the interaction".

A wild lion targeted a panicked couple in their tiny, red car and even pawed at the door trying to get inside.

Peter and May Craig Cooper were on holiday in , South Africa, when they spotted a four-year-old big cat wandering nearby.

The curious predator appeared to target a small car in front of the couple and padded purposefully over to the driver’s side where the window was still wide open.

Understandably concerned by the lion’s presence, the driver rolled his window up but that only piqued the animal’s interest as it sniffed the wing mirror and hit the bodywork with its paw.

Over the course of 10 minutes, the beast walked around all sides of the car looking for a way inside, but finally strolled off when he was unsuccessful.

Peter said: “We’ve been visiting Kgalagadi every summer for 35 years and haven’t seen anything like this before.

“When the lion first walked over to them the couple were really interested in getting a closer look but when it got very near, they panicked and rolled the window up.

“As the window was rolled up, it was like the lion had been challenged by them. That’s when it started to paw at the door trying to get at the driver.

“The lion tried for about 10 minutes to get inside. It was very determined.

“We were just so fascinated by the interaction and wanted to make sure we captured such a special moment on camera.”