Cute: Baby raccoon joins the Shanghai Police ranks (Picture: Rex)

Meet the ridiculously cute new police recruit ready to tackle crime on the mean streets of Shanghai, China.

This baby raccoon dog was rescued by officers after being mistaken for a bear cub in an adorable case of mistaken identity.

The animal, which is indigenous to East Asia, was spotted wandering around a shocked Shanghai resident’s back garden before the man alerted authorities.

Police officer Li Wenyue responded to the call and later took the cooperative raccoon dog into custody, finding it a temporary shoebox home back at the station.


The baby raccoon was mistaken for a bear cub (Picture: Rex)

Spotting the youngster’s star potential, officer Wenyue posted several pictures of the raccoon, dressed in a police uniform, online.



She was later contacted by a local forestry worker who informed her that the ‘cub’ was in fact a different animal all together.

The baby raccoon has since been taken in by the forestry department and will be released back into the wild when it is old enough.

Raccoon dog numbers have declined in recent years with the animals being increasingly hunted for their fur.