The video above was taken on December 5, in Mengzi City, Yunnan Province in southwest China. A cute little "thief" sneaked into the local fire department's kitchen looking for food. It was caught red-handed by firefighters, who could not identify the animal and immediately informed the local forest police. 

The small mammal is a spotted linsang, which is under second-class protection in China. The forest police confirmed the spotted linsang was in good health, and let it go without "punishing" it for the attempted theft. 

Spotted linsang is a tree-dwelling carnivorous mammal, found throughout much of Southeast Asia. IUCN red list evaluates it as "least concern," but its population is decreasing due to habitat loss caused by human activities. The cat-like animal is nocturnal and solitary, feeds on rodents, frogs, birds and insects. Sometimes spotted linsangs are reported to visit villages and steal poultry. But at least the firefighters are not angry at the naughty little guy in their kitchen. 

(Cover image a still from the video, edited by An Qi)

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