A rare leopard cat was rescued after getting caught in traps that farmers had laid to catch rodents.<br /><br />The devices were placed throughout a sugar crane grove that had been overrun with rats in Ang Thong, central Thailand.<br /><br />However, when one of the farmers checked the metal snares he discovered the beautiful female leopard cat stuck inside. He then took it to a nearby Buddhist temple to be cared for.<br /><br />Footage from Tuesday (March 17) morning shows the feline, believed to be around a year old, in a cage while it was examined by the Buddhist temple committee.<br /><br />Local official Pairoj Niwwijit, 63, said the temple must contact the National Park so that officers can arrive and check the car.<br /><br />He said: "The cat's appearance is also similar to a fishing cat so we need the specialist to check on her.<br /><br />"The temple cannot keep her because both species are on the wildlife conservation list and keeping her is a against the law."<br /><br />He added that the area used to be home to both species of cat but there had been in a decrease in the numbers recently.<br /><br />He said: "The locals here started to cultivate the sugar cane around 10 years ago.<br /><br />"They usually burn the waste crops after harvesting and the fire killed many of the cat population, so we have not seen many of them.''<br /><br />The leopard cat and the fishing cat are protected species that have been on the Thai wildlife conservation list since 1992.
