A rare leopard cat was rescued after getting caught in traps that farmers had laid to catch rodents.

The devices were placed throughout a sugar crane grove that had been overrun with rats in Ang Thong, central Thailand.

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.

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.

Local official Pairoj Niwwijit, 63, said the temple must contact the National Park so that officers can arrive and check the car.

He said: "The cat's appearance is also similar to a fishing cat so we need the specialist to check on her.

"The temple cannot keep her because both species are on the wildlife conservation list and keeping her is a against the law."

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.

He said: "The locals here started to cultivate the sugar cane around 10 years ago.

"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.''

The leopard cat and the fishing cat are protected species that have been on the Thai wildlife conservation list since 1992.