Arnold Schwarzenegger had an encounter with a breath-taking elephant in South Africa that quickly turned a bit too close for comfort.

In a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Schwarzenegger can be seen in the lower right corner of the frame as a large elephant bats its ears at the safari rover.

A tour guide sitting in the front seat of the vehicle starts telling the animal 'No, no, no' as it lowers a tusk into the vehicle's hood with a loud clanging sound.

At that point the driver, who had shut the engine off as to not scare the elephant, turns the vehicle back on and as it roars to life the majestic animal backs away.

'Is he backing up because of the engine?' a woman can be heard saying.

Schwarzenegger replies: 'No, he's going to charge us.'

The elephant then moves to the left of the vehicle and appears to be going deep into the brush, until it turns back toward the camera. 

The enormous animal begins to charge at the vehicle as the driver floors the gas to get away as the elephant trots close behind. 

'Oh s***,' Schwarzenegger can be heard saying. 

He captioned the video, which now has close to 300,000 views, saying the scene was so unreal he couldn't have written it in a movie. 

'I'm absolutely in awe of these beautiful, strong animals, even though some of us had to change our pants after this. We need to stop killing them - take a photo, not a shot. 

'Would you rather be able to experience these creatures or a hunk of ivory? I thought so,' he said.

(Daily Mail)