A MOTORCYCLIST and his pillion rider narrowly escaped with their lives after a tiger leapt out of woodland and started chasing them.

The near-miss was filmed on the edge of Nagarhole National Park, southern India, which is home to 72 Bengal tigers.

The terrifying footage, believed to have been recorded by the pillion rider, shows the predator rushing out of the jungle and onto the road as the motorbike roars past.

It charges straight at the machine and appears to try to grab the wheel.

Then, after appearing for five seconds, the big cat darts back into woodland.

Tigers can run at around 40mph.

At the beginning of this year, one of the park's tigers killed three people, including a 28-year-old and 60-year-old man, before it was caught and tranquillised by officials.

In 2015, two farmers were killed on the park’s edge by a male tiger.

One was a woman who had been grazing her livestock at the time.

In 2013, local media reported that four people had been killed in the park and neighbouring Bandipur.

A 55-year-old farmer was mauled to death outside Bandipur, while a forest watcher was killed in Nagarhole after answering a call out during the night.

Two villagers were also killed outside villages next to the parks.

In each case, authorities endeavoured to catch the tigers and either had them shot or discussed re-locating them to zoos.

In the most recent attacks, the tiger reportedly started attacking people due to an injury, meaning it was unable to chase its normal prey.

The Bengal tiger is endangered, according to the IUCN red list, with its population said to be decreasing.

Its habitat has also become 'severely fragmented' due to the presence of humans meaning the big cats now only live in small pockets of land across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

The video is trending on social media after being uploaded on Sunday.

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