It turns out your pet dog isn't the only animal that catches an occasional jolt of the "zoomies" – this antelope just couldn't resist a game of backyard bird-chasing which turned into several laps of exuberant, circular sprinting:

"Having wildlife visiting our garden is not uncommon," the person who captured the footage explained in a YouTube description. "But walking out the house to find a small wild antelope going absolutely bonkers chasing birds like a dog through our garden, was a totally new and hilarious experience." The antelope – a female klipspringer – spent at least five minutes running laps around the swimming pool before leaping onto a concrete birdbath for a post-sprint drink.

Although the parkour-like agility of the stocky ewe may seem surprising, these antelope are experts at negotiating rocky terrain to evade predators (in fact, it's an ability that earned them the name "klipspringer", a compound of Afrikaans words which roughly translates to "rock leaper"). The cliff-loving animals are found in fragmented populations across eastern and southern Africa where they take up residence on craggy outcrops and rocky hillsides. They typically travel in pairs, but may also be solitary and can sometimes be found on flat land in areas where they need to move between isolated hills (which may explain why this bird-chaser was hanging out in a backyard rather than on a rocky slope). The klipsrpinger's unique hoof structure allows them to walk on the tips of their hooves – perfect for boulder hopping.

It's unclear what triggered a bout of playfulness in this lone ewe, but it's possible she simply needed to burn off some excess energy and stretch her legs in preparation for evading predators in the future. Play behaviour in wild animals is still poorly understood, but many theories abound. It's believed that animals rarely play in stressful situations, so playful behaviour is a good indicator of suitable environmental conditions. 

We don't know exactly why this klipspringer is chasing birds, but we're sure glad someone was there to capture it on camera.

Header image: Bernard Dupont