For the first time in more than a century, researchers have identified a new species of wild cat previously unknown to science. The discovery of Leopardus tilcayo — commonly known as the tilcayo cat — represents a significant breakthrough in wildlife biology and marks the first formal description of a wild cat species since the early 1900s.

The tilcayo cat is a slender, spotted feline with rounded ears that measures approximately 18 inches from head to body and weighs just three pounds — smaller than the average house cat. The species inhabits the Bolivian Yungas,a forest region where the Andes mountains meet the Amazon basin. This isolated ecosystem is one of the least-studied areas in the Neotropical realm yet contains numerous species found nowhere else on Earth.

The discovery began with a chance encounter in 2017, when a local Bolivian family turned over a wild cat to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary for care. Paola Nogales Ascarrunz, a wild cat conservationist and National Geographic Explorer, first met the animal while volunteering at the sanctuary and subsequently led the international research team that would confirm its status as a new species.

"Tiger cats have been enigmatic for decades," Eduardo Eizirik, a professor at Brazil's Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul who collaborated with Ascarrunz, told Discover Wildlife. The cats were "once thought to be a single species (Leopardus tigrinus) based on their similar appearance."

However, when researchers analyzed DNA from museum specimens and living animals, they found evidence for at least five distinct wild cat species, "each with its own unique evolutionary history," Eizirik added. The resulting paper, published in the Current Biology journal, formally describes four other species alongside L. tilcayo: L. guttulus, L. emiliae, L. pardinoides, and L. tigrinus, including the new Peruvian subspecies L. tigrinus antisuyo.

The ten-year-old male currently residing at Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary is the only known individual of the species living in protective captivity. The tilcayo cat is differentiated from the oncilla (known as the northern tiger cat) by its larger spot markings, a larger and more slender tail, and muted fur coloring.

The full range of L. tilcayo remains unknown, as tiger cats are frequently misidentified as oncillas or margays on camera-trap surveys. Ascarrunz is currently installing camera traps in the Yungas forests to document the species in the wild, which would help researchers understand more about its behavior, population, and habitat requirements.

The formal recognition of L. tilcayo as a new species will likely prompt conservation assessments and protections for the animal. Researchers expect that updated range information for all tiger-cat species will result in more urgent conservation status designations in the coming years.

Jennie James