The video shows heroic police officers rescuing a protected leopard cat after it got stuck in a dangerous barbed wire.

Footage shared by the Yinjing Branch of the Ruili Border Inspection Station. Located in China’s south-western province of Yunan, showed the kitten hanging by its fur on the barbed wire on 28th January.

Trapped on the metal, the wild animal can be seen biting the wire in an attempt to free itself and crying in pain. Alert cops arrived on site at around 2pm to help.

Using a pair of utility shears, a police officer successfully cut through the wire, freeing the kitten, and then placed it safely inside a cardboard box.

In the clip, the police officers are depicted using chopsticks to feed the kitten small pieces of meat, before transporting it to the vet for medical attention.

Yinjing Police said in a statement obtained by AsiaWire: “After contacting the forest police department, it was confirmed that the animal was a leopard cat, a national second-level protected animal, and the young leopard cat was slightly injured.

“If not dealt with in time, it would have definitely been seriously injured. It could have even broken free and injured other people.”

They continued: “The police carefully treated the wounds and fed the little guy. And it slowly became obedient.

“At present, the little leopard cat’s injuries are not serious. It has been handed over to the Forest Police Brigade of the Ruili City Public Security Bureau.”

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The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia.

It was reportedly the first cat species domesticated in Neolithic China about 5,000 years ago in the Shaanxi and Henan Provinces.

Leopard cats have been classified as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2002.

In China, the species is listed as Category II of the National Key Protected Wild Animals due to habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range.