A crafty hare led an inexperienced hawk on a futile chase around a bush multiple times.

Andrew Stephens was on safari in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa, when he spotted a scrub hare resting in the shade.

Hilarious footage captured the moment a juvenile goshawk flew to the ground and with its wings spread wide, charged at the small mammal.

The wise hare clearly knew it was too big to be caught and instead led the bird on numerous unsuccessful laps around the tree until the hawk finally gave up.

Andrew said: “This encounter had us in stitches. It’s always exciting to see interaction between different species but this was just so comical.

“The goshawk flew to the ground and startled the hare, which then ran out from under the bush. The bird then proceeded to chase the hare around the bush.

“The two kept running around in circles until the goshawk eventually flew off. It over-estimated its hunting prowess.

“At least it had the confidence. You could almost hear the scrub hare saying ‘this is a waste of my time’.

“As this was a juvenile, I do not believe the goshawk had the experience to catch and kill the hare. Its diet consists of mainly reptiles, birds and smaller mammals.”