New species of wild cat discovered for first time in more than a century

Scientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher told AFP on Thursday. The Tilcayo tiger cat, a small feline with a spotted, leopard-like coat, was identified in the mountainous Yungas region near the capital, La Paz. 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. The nickname "tilcayo" given to the animal by locals inspired its new scientific designation: Leopardus tilcayo. A Leopardus tilcayo cat, a newly identified species through research led by National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, walks at the Senda Verde animal refuge in the Yungas region of Bolivia on Sept. 1, 2026. Fernando Faciole / National Geographic / Handout via Reuters 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 feline discovered since the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923. The tilcayo is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, measuring around 18 inches, with round...