KALININGRAD, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Kaliningrad have caught a beaver after the animal bit a woman in the center of the western Russian city, a police spokesman said on Thursday.

Police said they received a call at around 3 a.m. local time (midnight GMT) saying that a beaver had attacked people. "One woman tried to caress it and the animal bit her," the spokesman said.

It is unclear why the rodent ventured into the center of the city. The spokesman said it could have emerged from a pond near the Amber Museum or a lake near a maternity hospital.

Police and rescuers arrived at the scene and caught the "offender."

"It was carefully caught and taken out of the city," the spokesman said, adding that the rodent was later released near a village.

No police officers were injured during the operation, he added.

In April last year, a large beaver broke into a food store near the south Urals city of Chelyabinsk smashing a shop window and several bottles of vodka. The animal was later safely captured and taken back to a remote part of the forest.