Scientists discover a new wild cat in more than century

Scientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher said on Thursday.

The tilcayo tiger cat, a small feline with a spotted, leopard-like coat, was identified in the mountainous Yungas region near La Paz, Bolivia.

Locals who saw the creature in the Bolivian Andes had mistaken it for an ordinary house cat, said biologist and National Geographic explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who was part of the research team that studied them.

A Leopardus tilcayo cat walks at the Senda Verde animal refuge in Bolivia on Sept. 1.

Photo: National Geographic via Reuters

The nickname “tilcayo” given to the animal by locals inspired its new scientific designation: Leopardus tilcayo.

Nogales-Ascarrunz lauded the discovery as a “remarkable event, because a new wild cat species hasn’t been described in 100 years.”

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

The tilcayo is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, measuring about 45cm, with rounded ears.

A pair of tilcayos — the only such creatures found so far — have undergone whole genome sequencing, Nogales-Ascarrunz said, referring to a type of in-depth genetic testing.

A male tilcayo is living at an animal shelter in Yungas, after it was handed over by a family who had taken it in.

A female was rescued and released into the wild after being attacked by locals.

“So far, it’s only been detected in Bolivia,” the explorer said.

They were classified as vulnerable to extinction, but their small numbers meant they could soon be considered “at much greater risk” of dying out, she said.