This is the astonishing moment a man experiences a once-in-a-lifetime face-to-face encounter with a Siberian tiger in a snow-covered forest.

Smartphone footage shows the endangered animal looking directly at the man recording the video, identified only as Mr Wang, on Tuesday, 26th December.

Mr Wang can then be heard telling it something, as the animal, considered the largest feline in the world. Continues staring at him until the clip ends.

When asked by media, the man said that he came across the Siberian tiger while driving down a road in Yanbian, in China’s north-eastern Jilin Province.

He explained that he watched the more than 400-kilogramme-heavy (880 lbs) wild animal for 10 minutes straight through his car’s window.

Mr Wang also added that he was not scared during the encounter.

The video has been liked more than 27,000 times and shared over 1,400 times after it was shared on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, one day later.

Stunned social media users could not hold back from commenting after seeing the footage.

Tiger Tries To Lick Squatting Man Despite Glass Barrier

Douyin user ‘Riyadh’ said: “Brother, go and touch his head, I will give you CNY 1,000 (GBP 110).”

Then user ‘In the human world, just filling the numbers’ commented: “No, he’s waiting to digest hunger, what are you waiting for?”

And ‘Zixuanovo’ added: “In fact, the Siberian tiger is afraid of people. If you run towards it, it will run away. If it doesn’t run away, then my judgment is wrong.”

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur tiger. Is native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China, and possibly North Korea.

It is listed as ‘endangered’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Red Book of Russia. As well as in Appendices II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

According to estimates, fewer than 600 Siberian tigers remain in the wild. While several hundred more are kept in zoos and nature parks worldwide.