Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger got chased by an elephant in South Africa.

The "Terminator" star -- who was in the country to promote the multi-sport festival and expo Arnold Classic Africa 2016 -- had a terrifying encounter with the mammal when it blocked the road in front of his group's car, before walking around the vehicle and chasing it as it drove away, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

He shared a video of the incident on YouTube on Tuesday and wrote: "I couldn't have written this safari encounter better if it was a movie".

The clip shows the driver shutting off the engine to avoid scaring the elephant, but when he turns the car back on the animal, it bellowed and backed away.

One passenger was heard asking: "Is he backing up because of the engine?"

The driver tried to reassure his passengers by saying he is worried about the animal scratching the vehicle, but Schwarzenegger, 68, replied: "No, he's going to charge us".

As the car sped away with the elephant behind, the actor could be heard exclaiming: "Oh s**t".

While the encounter was nerve-wracking for those in the car, the former Governor of California went on to stress how much he is "in awe" of elephants.

"I'm absolutely in awe of these beautiful, strong animals, even though some of us had to change our pants after this," Schwarzenegger wrote.

"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 added.