A wolf was rescued at a government building in Qinghai province on Friday after it was found with a leg wound believed to have been caused by an illegal trap.

Blood flows from the paw of an injured wolf that found its way into a government office building of Huangnan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province on Friday. Provided to China Daily

Yang Jian, deputy secretary-general of the government of the Huangnan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, shot some pictures of the injured wolf and put them on his micro blog over the weekend along with a story saying that the wolf was found in an office on the first floor of the building at about 11 am.

The photos and the story of the wolf attracted great attention online, and media also followed it over the weekend.

"I was told there was a wolf - first thought to be a dog - going into the governmental building and then saw the animal was tired, lying on the ground of the office. Its right front leg was injured with a wound more than 6 centimeters long," Yang said.

Later, the animal appeared to have physically recovered and began snarling at the crowd of onlookers that had gathered to watch the scene.

To avoid an attack from the wolf, the government officials reported to the prefecture's forest public security bureau, which dispatched forest police officers with tools to control the wolf.

"I thought the wolf would be gentle after being injured, but it was still aggressive and was finally brought into custody by some six people," Yang said.

The bone of the wolf's right front leg was broken, forest police officers said, but the prefecture had no proper facilities for treating the wolf, so it was sent to the provincial animal administration bureau in Xining, capital of the province.

Forestry authorities said that the wolf will be sent back to the wild after it is cured.

Forest police officers remove a wolf from a government office building. The animal was found there with a leg wound apparently caused by an illegal trap. Provided to China Daily

The forest police officers believe that the wolf was injured and caught by illegal hunters in the mountains and was then taken into the town where the government office is located. They speculate that the injured wolf escaped the illegal hunters and accidentally went into the government compound.

Yang said that more and more wild animals are being spotted in the mountains outside of town now that environmental conditions have greatly improved and animal protection measures are being implemented properly.

The forest police officers immediately started an investigation in the area after they sent the wolf for medical treatment, and they vowed to crack down on the illegal hunting of wild animals.

Located in the southeastern part of Qinghai province, the prefecture has relatively rich forest and wildlife resources. There are more than 100 species of wild animals, including Tibetan antelope, white-lipped deer, musk deer, otter, snow chicken, snow leopard and blue sheep.

In order to better protect wild animals, the prefecture's government issued an emergency plan in 2007 to deal with major incidents that may lead to ecological destruction. The policy bans illegal hunting of rare and endangered wild animals.

The prefecture's forest police officers had carried out a number of activities to crack down on illegal hunting and reduced such cases over the past years.

Contact the writer at malie@chinadaily.com.cn