A protected newt is found in a stream in Qingtian county. [Photo/Tide News]

A rare Chinese warty newt, a national second-class protected wild creature, was rescued and released by forestry workers in Qingtian county – administered by Lishui city, in East China's Zhejiang province – on March 8.

The rescue happened after the forestry workers received a report from a local resident that he had found a strange animal in a stream in Qingtian county and wanted to keep it as a pet. He later realized that it might be a protected animal and subsequently sought help.

After arriving at the scene, the forestry workers consulted experts from the Zhejiang Forest Resources Monitoring Center and confirmed that the creature was a Chinese warty newt, or Paramesotriton chinensis, an amphibian that belongs to the salamander family.

The animal has rough skin with warts and dark red ridges along its back and orange and yellow spots on its belly. It lives in streams at altitudes of 200-1,200 meters in hilly and mountainous areas.

"The Chinese warty newt has very high requirements for water quality. It has only been found in the Huangcun Reservoir and Fengyuan Nature Reserve in Lishui," a forestry worker said.

To ensure its safe return to nature, the workers released the Chinese warty newt near the Huangcun Reservoir.