NEW SPECIES OF WILD CAT IDENTIFIED IN BOLIVIA

SUCRE, SEPTEMBER 18 /SRNA/ – Scientists in Bolivia have identified a new species of wild cat whose markings resemble those of a leopard.

Genetic data confirmed that this small wild cat, locally known as tilcayo, is an entirely new species. Its new scientific name is Leopardus tilcayo.

Biologist and National Geographic researcher Paola Nogales-Ascarunz described the discovery as extraordinary, noting that a new species of wild cat had not been discovered for 100 years. The last such discovery was the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923.

The new species was found in the Yungas forest in a remote region of Bolivia on the slopes of the Andes.

The animal is 46 centimetres long, weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms, and is smaller than a domestic cat.

“Its fur is light brown, with irregularly distributed markings across its body,” Nogales-Ascarunz said.

She recalled that she first saw the cat in 2016, but that it took considerable time to establish that it was a previously unknown species, Deutsche Welle reported.