Baby leopard cat melts hearts in Chinese police station

A baby leopard cat has melted the hearts of police in China who have adopted the little ball of fur in order to protect it.

According to CGTN, a villager in Jiangcheng County found the little newborn while tending to his farm.

Having raised the "kitten" for three days, he realised that it looked more like a species of wild animal, so he took it to police.

The leopard cat is a small species of cat that is native to South, South-East and East Asia, and archeological evidence suggests they were the earliest cats to be domesticated in Neolithic Asia.

However, over time their place as the top-cat in Chinese homes was displaced by the common house-cat. While they have been interbred with house-cats to produce the Bengal cat, those are generally four generations removed from their leopard cat ancestors.

Leopard cats are a level 3 protected species in China. This one will be rehabilitated and released into the wild once it is ready.