A local resident in the Bolivian Yungas cloud forest (where the Andes meet the Amazon basin) found an abandoned young kitten near a roadside around 2016–2017 and raised it as a pet. Gradually, the rescuer realized as it matured that it was a wild animal.
Scientists formally identified the tilcayo cat (Leopardus tilcayo) as a brand-new wild felid species in September 2026, marking the first living cat species described in over a century.
Smaller than a typical house cat, it weighs about 3 pounds and is roughly 18 inches long. It has muted light-brown fur covered in large, irregularly shaped leopard-like rosettes/spots, a small scrunched face, short rounded ears and long whiskers
Genetic data shows it diverged from other tiger cat lineages approximately 1.4 million years ago
The cat was surrendered to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary in Bolivia, where researcher Dr. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz examined it and eventually used whole-genome sequencing to confirm it was an entirely distinct species.
The discovery splits what was previously thought to be a single tiger cat species into five distinct species, raising new urgency around wildlife conservation due to deforestation and mining.
The Yungas is the only region currently identified as the species’ home, but it doesn’t imply the full extent of its range or how many individuals live there. Since small wild cats can be difficult to identify because they are elusive and closely resemble one another, camera traps were deployed in the forest to help establish where exactly the cat roams outside the sanctuary area.
