New feline species discovered in Bolivia: Mistaken for a common cat for years

Scientists have discovered a new species of wild feline after more than a century by observing specimens in the warm valleys of the Bolivian Andes that were mistaken by some locals for cats, Paola Nogales, a member of the research team, told AFP on Thursday.

With a spotted coat and measuring about 45 centimeters, the small animal was identified in the mountainous region of Los Yungas, about 90 kilometers northeast of La Paz. It was named by the locals as the tilcayo, a designation that inspired its new scientific name: "leopardus tilcayo".

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It is a "remarkable event, because a wild cat has not been described in 100 years" anywhere in the world, said Bolivian scientist Nogales, a National Geographic explorer.

It is the first new feline discovered since the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923.

The tilcayo "is a little smaller than a domestic cat, has rounded ears," and a spotted coat, she indicated, which caused neighbors to mistake it for a common kitty.

So far, a pair of tilcayos has been found, which underwent "whole genome sequencing," meaning in-depth genetic testing.

A male was adopted by a family who, upon noticing that it did not have normal behavior, handed it over to an animal conservation shelter in Los Yungas, where it remains to this day.

A female that was attacked in a community was rescued and later released back into the wild.

In 2021, scientists began collecting the first information on this species. The research was finally published this Thursday in the scientific journal Current Biology.

"For now, it is only detected in Bolivia"; it has not been seen "anywhere else on the planet," the biologist detailed.

According to Nogales, these types of tigrinos were classified as "vulnerable to extinction," although due to their small distribution in the territory, it could soon be considered that they are "much more in danger of extinction."