This is the moment a Chinese taxi driver travelling down a remote rural road suddenly comes across a wild tiger.

The taxi driver, identified only as Mr Meng, encountered the tiger while driving near the town of Chunhua in the city of Hunchun in the Chinese province of Jilin on 15th August.

The cabbie told local media that the tiger stared at him for a few moments before coolly wandering off.

Mr Meng added that he was not afraid at the time, but was instead rather excited as he had never seen a wild tiger before despite working in the area for over 10 years.

He said the tiger was around half a metre long and weighed some 300 kilogrammes (47 stone), and that it disappeared into the woods shortly after their encounter on the road.

According to local media, state-run tiger and leopard reserves are situated in the area outside the city of Hunchun and rangers carry out patrols every day to protect road users and visitors.

The local authorities advise residents to “try not to move” if they encounter a tiger, adding that it may attack if someone “runs around and makes the animal feel threatened”.

Netizens had a lot to say about the cabbie’s face-to-face encounter with the wild tiger, and comments on the social media post included “this is its home”, “isn’t it time for you to panic?”, and “at least it saves you having to go to a zoo”.