A curious penguin stared directly into a GoPro before lunging at the camera forcing it backwards.

Herve Berthou was on Boulders Beach in Cape Town, South Africa, when he came across an African penguin in the path ahead of him.

Cute footage shows the 45cm tall bird taking a keen interest in the equipment, turning its head to both sides seemingly to get a better look at it.

However, interest soon gave way to annoyance and the penguin opened its beak and lunged at the camera in an apparent attempt to eat it.

Herve said: “I was using a GoPro at the end of a metre long stick and the penguin was extremely curious about it.

“It kept looking at the camera and turning its head from side to side trying to get a closer look at it from underneath.

“Then all of a sudden it decided to lunge at it with its mouth wide open like it was trying to eat it.

“I was concerned that he could break my lens with his beak so I pulled the GoPro away as quickly as possible.”