This is the moment a volunteer at a wildlife facility is attacked by a cheetah when her colleague goes to feed it.

Amandine Lequime of Belgium suffered several deep cuts after being bitten and clawed by the big cat at the facility in South Africa last month.

She was admitted to hospital where she received stitches, and, despite the treatment, she now has muscle damage.

Footage filmed by the victim herself shows how her colleague opens a gate and two cheetahs run out of their enclosure.

One of them heads straight for Amandine and pounces on her, causing her to audibly scream in pain. A photo taken later in hospital shows deep cuts to her arm.

She said the feline “continued to bite and claw my arms and legs until the facility manager succeeded in getting the cheetah away from me”.

She said the sanctuary begged her not to talk about her experience. However, she decided to speak out, saying: “I don’t want other volunteers to go through similar frightening experiences.”

She added: “People need to understand that to be close to wild animals is appealing, but not safe.”

She also broke her silence after finding out that the same cheetah had attacked the facility’s manager two years earlier, causing leg and neck injuries.

According to the Blood Lions campaign group, captive big cats have attacked several paying volunteers and tourists in South Africa over the past decade, with a third losing their lives.

The organisation aims to “end cub petting, canned hunting and exploitative breeding of lions and predators” in South Africa.

The country is reported to have over 60 facilities offering volunteering opportunities with big cats.

Blood Lions believes there are so many attacks – over 50 have been reported – at such facilities, as they are poorly laid out and the captive animals experience high stress when out of the wild.

It is unclear if the police are investigating.