The schoolboy pats a cheetah inside the enclosure, moments before he was attacked.

A Christchurch schoolboy mauled by a cheetah during a wildlife encounter in South Africa held back his screams as the animal's teeth sunk into his shoulder.

Isaac Driver, 14, was taking part in a guided encounter with his family at the Emdoneni Lodge Cheetah Project in Zululand on Wednesday morning (local time).

The Cashmere High student was saved after his quick-thinking father David Driver pinned the big cat to the ground soon after it pounced.

Mandy Driver He was taken to the cafe area of the park before being taken to a local Zululand medical centre.

"He was so brave, just so brave," said his mother, Mandy Driver.

READ MORE: Christchurch boy mauled by cheetah

She said a group of about 20 entered the cheetah enclosure where two cheetahs were waiting.

MANDY DRIVER Isaac was treated for puncture wounds to his shoulder and gashes from the cheetah's claws.

"One of them was looking not that happy and hissing a bit and looking like they couldn't be bothered with all these people," Mandy Driver said from South Africa.

"Another was was sitting really placidly, it was a really hot day, about 35 degrees [Celsius]."

The group waited in the shade for their turn to pat the large cat, many of which had been hand-reared at the centre from a very young age.

"There was a guide stood (sic) with a big stick guarding the other one stopping it getting too aggravated and keeping it calm."

Just as the group finished patting the cheetah and taking their obligatory selfies, it "decided to get up and just walked through the crowd".

"The guide that had been guarding the more aggressive one started walking towards the other one."

As soon as the guard was down, Mandy Driver said the cheetah pounced "so fast".

Bounding past her daughter, ripping her shirt, and her daughter's friend, scratching her leg, the wild animal seemed to have its sights set on her son.

Within seconds, the cheetah was on top of him, covering his whole body with its paw wrapped around his back and "his head right over his neck".

"It was like something out of a Tarzan movie or something. I couldn't believe it was happening."

Isaac's father, wearing a "bright orange Hawaiian style shirt", pulled the cheetah off his son and pinned it to the ground.

"He said the thought went through his head, 'you're not having his head', and that's when he pounced on it," his wife said.

Isaac shuffled back, "shaking", from the attack, as a guide took over to bring the cheetah under control.

"He didn't scream, he just said 'ow, ow, ow' while he had the cheetah's mouth stuck in his shoulder. He was shaking, but he didn't cry or anything.

"I looked back as we left the enclosure and saw the guide upside-down with his head in the cheetah's mouth and blood pouring off his face, and we thought, oh my god, is he going to die?"

Isaac was taken to a local medical centre where he was treated for puncture wounds to his shoulder and "gashes" on his arm and back from the cheetah's claws.

The guide suffered facial and arm injuries, Mandy Driver said.

"You think you're in a safe environment, you think they wouldn't take you into a cheetah pen if they're going to attack you, and they're so much bigger than you think.

"I have no idea why they targeted Isaac, he wasn't smaller than the rest of the group and he wasn't being silly or making any loud noises or anything."

After the shock of the attack had passed, Mandy Driver said Isaac kept telling his sister to take lots of photos.

"He just wants to go home really. I think he is a bit disappointed he can't show it off to his friends until he gets home."

The family plan to continue their African holiday – including a lion encounter – before returning to Christchurch on Wednesday.