New Bolivian cat species, 'Tigrino,' now draws tourists to the sanctuary that raised him
Scientists named Leopardus tilcayo, the first new wild cat species in a century, after it turned up misidentified as a house cat.
What to know
- Leopardus tilcayo, the tilcayo tiger cat, is the first new wild cat species named in more than a century, described in Current Biology.
- The species was confirmed through genetic testing on two animals that turned up at Bolivia's Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary after being mistaken for domestic kittens.
- By September 21, the sanctuary's resident cat, nicknamed Tigrino, had become a tourist draw, though at least one report frames the species as known from a single living individual.
- Online reaction split between excitement over the tiny spotted cat and concern that publicity could invite poaching or the exotic pet trade, plus criticism that the 'discovery' framing overlooks generations of Indigenous knowledge of the animal.
The dispute Whether describing Leopardus tilcayo as a scientific 'discovery' respects or erases the generations of Indigenous knowledge that already identified and named the animal. · positions read across 170 posts and comments
Publicity around the new species will endanger it by attracting poachers, exotic-pet buyers, or influencers.
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“Somebody's probably already figuring out a way to traffic it.”
bumbledan.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Calling this a 'new' species erases the fact that Indigenous and local communities already knew and named the animal.
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“First world bias showing! Researcher says “No one else had named it. No one else had described it.” Then at the end a local says “my grandpa told me that’s the Tilcayo” Tsk tsk!”
deepchad.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
The framing is fair — scientific 'naming' has a specific technical meaning and the researchers explicitly worked to preserve the traditional Indigenous name.
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“Dial the Bluesky back a bit. It's very clear in the article that it is new to science, not the first time it's ever been named by a human. This is the best case scenario, scientists working with indigenous people to find, name, and…”
jackdodson.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz Lead researcher, Bolivian Felid Research and Conservation ProgramTadeu de Oliveira Co-author, ecologist at State University of MaranhãoSenda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary Wildlife rehabilitation center near La Paz, BoliviaTigrino 10-year-old tilcayo cat at the center of public attention
How it unfolded 5 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesvideospostscomments
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Sanctuary sees surge of visitors to see the cat, named Tigrino
Wire and video coverage reports the 3-pound tilcayo, an adopted 10-year-old individual named Tigrino, has become an unlikely tourist draw at the Bolivian sanctuary since the species was confirmed.
“The 3-pound cat is a member of the first living wild cat species to be identified in more than a century.”
— Associated Press -
first by Nature News, 3d ago · also The Hindu, Straits Times, SCMP, CTV News, Channel News Asia, Reuters +4
3 more headlines
- New cat species identified in Bolivia, first in over a century The Hindu · 2d ago
- Meet Earth’s newest wild cat species, the first named in over a century AP News · 2d ago
- Meet the Adorable and Tiny Tilcayo, the First Brand-New Cat Species Identified in More Than a Century Smithsonian Magazine · 2d ago
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first by New Scientist, 6d ago · also NBC News, Live Science, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Gizmodo, The Times, GB News +1
8 more headlines
- New cat species discovered in Bolivia washingtonpost.com · 6d ago
- New wild cat species is identified for first time in 100 years, researchers say Mastodon · 6d ago
- Scientists name a new cat species for the first time in over a century Live Science · 6d ago
- New species of wild cat discovered in Bolivia’s cloud forest BBC Wildlife Magazine · 6d ago
- Scientists Discover First New Cat Species in Over a Century—and It’s Love at First Sight Gizmodo · 6d ago
- Tilcayo ‘tiger cat’ of Bolivia is a new species, scientists say The Times · 6d ago
- Leopardus tilcayo: Adorable new cat species identified for the first time in more than 100 years GB News · 6d ago
- Adorable Photos of the First New Cat Species Discovered in Over a Century PetaPixel · 6d ago
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OMG!!! NEW CAT JUST DROPPED¹!!!! https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilcayo — ¹ Was formally described by international zoologists. Local communities had known about the cat for ages.
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"A previously unknown cat species has been identified in plain sight: at a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia, where the small, spotted feline had been living for years. "The discovery, reported Thursday in the journal Current Biology, marks the first time scientists have named and described a new living wild cat species in more than a century." It's a…
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This 10-year-old male tiger cat is the first of his species (named Leopardus tilcayo) known to science. He is approximately 18 inches from head to end of body and weighs only 3 pounds, making him smaller than the average domestic cat. This video was captured at the Senda Verde Animal Refuge in Bolivia’s...Read More Joel Sartore, National…
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PBS highlights the cat was 'hiding in plain sight' at the sanctuary
Follow-up coverage emphasizes that the previously unknown species had been living for years at the wildlife sanctuary after being taken in by a local family, rather than being found in a remote survey.
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first by CNET, 6d ago
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A previously unknown cat species has been identified in plain sight: at a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia, where the small, spotted feline had been living for years after being taken in by a local family.
2 more of the top 3 · 27 posts in this stretch
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New # cat species! 😻 (New to # science , not the indigenous peoples of # Bolivia ) The tilcayo tiger cat, Leopardus tilcayo Smaller than a house cat. Lives in cloud forests # PaolaNogalesAscarrunz discovered it volunteering at a # wildlife rehabilitation center “I saw this cat. It was really, really small, and I couldn’t believe how small it was"…
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> when the researchers compared complete genomes from 38 individuals across the Leopardus genus, the results showed that not only was L. tilcayo different from the other tiger cat species, but it had diverged from them around 1.4 million years ago—an evolutionary distance comparable to that between modern lions and extinct cave lions.So around 2.8…
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BBC reports species is known from a single living cat
A BBC report frames the species as having only one confirmed living member, adding uncertainty about how many tilcayo remain in the wild and underscoring the conservation stakes.
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first by Good News Network, 6d ago · also Al Jazeera, Sky News, Euronews, Times of India, CBS News, Mashable +8
14 more headlines
- New tiger cat species identified in Bolivia, first in over a century Mastodon · 6d ago
- Bolivia's tilcayo tiger cat becomes first new wildcat species in 100 years Phys.org · 5d ago
- New species of wild cat identified in Bolivia - first for more than 100 years Sky News · 5d ago
- 'Remarkable': Scientists discover new wild cat species for first time in 100 years Euronews · 5d ago
- Scientists discover first new living cat species in more than a century Times of India · 5d ago
- New species of wild cat discovered for first time in more than a century CBS News · 5d ago
- New cat species identified for first time in 100 years Mashable · 5d ago
- New cat species identified for the 1st time in a century CBC · 5d ago
- New wild cat species discovered after hiding in plain sight for more than a century FOX Weather · 5d ago
- New Species of Cat Discovered for First Time in a Century Mastodon · 5d ago
- Bolivia identifies first new cat species in more than a century UPI · 5d ago
- Cat Ladies Rejoice! New Feline Species Discovered For First Time In Over 100 Years Daily Caller · 5d ago
- New cat species found, first in more than 100 years Al Jazeera · 5d ago
- New wildcat species discovered for first time in more than 100 years ITVX · 5d ago
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first by Sci.News, 3d ago · also Hindustan Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Mercury News, Boston Globe +1
3 more headlines
- Tiny new wild cat species becomes Bolivia tourist attraction, but Tigrino wants to hide Hindustan Times · 2d ago
- Tiny wild cat newly identified as a species draws curious visitors in Bolivia Philadelphia Inquirer · 2d ago
- First New Wild Cat Species Identified in Over 100 Years Is An Adorably Tiny 'Tiger' ScienceAlert · 1d ago
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A new species of wild cat has been discovered in Bolivia’s Yungas forest. The light brown spotted Tilcayo, which is smaller than a domestic cat and native to Central and South America, is the first addition to the wild feline family in more than a century.
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Oh yeah no I'd be dead if I ever saw one in real life, that's friend shaped.
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On a related paw, Leopardus guigna (güiña) in Anticura goes by the cute name of kodkod:
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Social media debates whether the discovery erases Indigenous knowledge
Widely shared posts and comments note that Bolivian communities have long known and named the tilcayo, prompting criticism that framing it as newly 'discovered' overlooks that traditional knowledge, alongside other posts calling the story a legitimate collaboration between scientists and local communities.
“First world bias showing! Researcher says “No one else had named it. No one else had described it.” Then at the end a local says “my grandpa told me that’s the Tilcayo” Tsk tsk!”
— deepchad.bsky.social -
first by Globe and Mail, 6d ago · also HN Frontpage, HN Best, The Hindu, Scientific American, Guardian Science, Guardian +9
11 more headlines
- The first new cat species discovered in 100 years HN Frontpage · 6d ago
- New cat species ‘Tilcayo’ identified in Bolivia, first in over a century The Hindu · 6d ago
- See the first new species of cat discovered in more than a century—it’s adorable Mastodon · 6d ago
- New cat species identified in Bolivia for first time in more than a century Mastodon · 6d ago
- New species of wild cat identified in Bolivia Sky News · 6d ago
- New cat species identified for the first time in more than a century The Independent · 6d ago
- New wild cat species identified for the first time in more than a century The Independent · 6d ago
- New cat species identified for first time in 100 years — it’s 3 pounds and looks like a mini leopard NY Post · 6d ago
- Leopardus tilcayo: Tiny cat discovered in Bolivia said to be 1st new feline species in over 100 years ABC7 Los Angeles · 6d ago
- Scientists Discover New Wild Cat Species for First Time in 100 Years Breitbart · 6d ago
- First new feline species in 100 years discovered in Bolivian forest ABC News · 6d ago
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New cat species discovered in over 100 years Scientists have identified Leopardus tilcayo, a tiny wild cat found in Bolivia’s Yungas forests. The discovery began with a wildlife sanctuary reporting a “weird cat” and was later confirmed through genetic research
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Beautiful. I hope someone keeps exotic and hybrid cat breeders and influencers the fuck away from them.
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New cat just dropped :coolcat: https://www. nbcnews.com/science/environmen t/new-wild-cat-species-identified-rcna598113 https://www. nationalgeographic.com/animals /article/meet-the-first-new-cat-species-discovered-in-100-years # CatsOfMastodon # Cats
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Coverage details how a 'weird cat' call led to the discovery
Outlets report the cat was brought to the sanctuary by a man who had mistaken it for a domestic kitten and fed it noodles, rice and eggs before realizing it was wild; sanctuary staff initially thought it was a known Brazilian tiger cat species until Nogales-Ascarrunz pursued genetic testing.
“This time, it’s a cat. That’s really novel. And it hasn’t happened in 100 years. No one else had named it. No one else had described it.”
— Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, Lead study author, conservationist · source -
New cat alert! A call from a wildlife sanctuary about a "weird cat" has led to the first new cat species discovered in over 100 years in Bolivia’s Yungas forest ecoregion. Learn more about this feline surprise:
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The new wild cat species is about the size of a domestic kitten and lives in Bolivia.
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New-to-us species of cat just dropped https://www. nbcnews.com/science/environmen t/new-wild-cat-species-identified-rcna598113
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background
Researchers name Leopardus tilcayo, first new cat species in a century — A study in Current Biology describes the tilcayo tiger cat, found in Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest, as genetically distinct from other tiger cat lineages after diverging about 1.4 million years ago; the species was identified from two animals taken in by the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary near La Paz.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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5 outlets Meet Earth’s newest wild cat species, living in Bolivia and the first named in over a century
first by pbs.org, 5d ago · also Nautilus, NDTV, National Geographic, PBS NewsHour
3 more headlines
- This Stray Cat Turned Out to Be the First New Cat Species Discovered in Over a Century Nautilus | Science Connected · 4d ago
- How Experts Identified New Wild Cat Species, The First In Over A Century NDTV · 4d ago
- Meet the First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 years Mastodon · 4d ago
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first by Mastodon, 3d ago · also BBC
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first by Mastodon, 4d ago · also National Geographic Society
1 more headline
- Photos Show New Species of Wild Cat Discovered in Bolivia National Geographic Society · 4d ago
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first by France 24 EN, 4d ago · also France 24
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first by Guardian Science, 2d ago
1 more headline
- Newly identified Bolivian wildcat 'Tigrino' plays in his enclosure – video Guardian Science · 2d ago
and 6 smaller pieces
What people are saying 14 voices from 4 sites · best of 170 · verbatim
- How many tilcayo cats actually remain in the wild, given reports the species is known from as few as one or two individuals?
- Will increased public and media attention put the species at greater risk from poaching or the pet trade?
- Sep 20
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A very interesting piece from National Geographic about new cat species discovered not so long ago. Link to the full article: https://www. nationalgeographic.com/animals /article/meet-the-first-new-cat-species-discovered-in-100-years # cats # cat # science # nature # animals # NationalGeographic
- Sep 19
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I wonder how many different species of cat are just called "cats" in the local language of wherever they're found?We have just got normal house cats, that we call cats. They're very cuddly and they're great for keeping the mice under control.Somewhere in the forests of deepest Borneo is a civilisation only recently reached by primitive Westerners…
- Sep 18
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The Tilcayo tiger cat is a new species identified in Bolivia. It weighs 1.4 kilograms, lives in the Yungas, and its lineage separated from other tiger cats 1.4 million years ago according to genetic analyses.
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> And they said, ‘I don’t know! My grandpa called it tilcayo, so I call it tilcayo.I'm curious if the locals knew it was distinct from other similar species, e.g. Oncilla/L. tigrinus, or if tilcayo is the locals' name for a broader set of 2+ visually similar species?
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> Wikipedia doesn't have a page dedicated to it yet.Someone has been typing quickly...
- Sep 17
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Big news 4 Mastodon: New cat species identified in Bolivia! It's beautiful AND it's smaller than the average domestic cat. https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep /17/new-cat-species-identified-bolivia @ catsalad @ trickykat # Catstodon # CatsOfMastodon # Cats # Felines # CatNews
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New cat species has dropped # cat # cats https://www. scientificamerican.com/article /see-the-first-new-species-of-cat-discovered-in-more-than-a-century-its-adorable/
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A new cat has been discovered in Bolivia, the first time in over a century that scientists have confirmed a new feline species. Named Leopardus tilcayo, the cat weighs roughly five pounds and has a light brown coat patterned with dark rosettes.
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A new species of cat has been identified for the first time in a century—and experts think that there may be even more to discover around the world:
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Scientists have discovered a new species of cat for the first time in over a century. Smaller than an average housecat and covered in leopard-like spots, the cat species — proposed name Leopardus tilcayo —lives in Bolivia’s Yungas forest ecoregion.
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It's Leopardus tilcayo aka 'tilcayo tiger cat' and it's very cute. Wikipedia doesn't have a page dedicated to it yet.Bonus pics:
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New cat species found, first new species of cat in 100 years:
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‘…that local communities in Bolivia have been aware of the species’ presence for generations. “This cat, they call it tilcayo. And when you ask, ‘Does it have some meaning in Quechua or Almyra and other Indigenous languages?’ they say, ‘No, …we didn’t want to give it another name.”’
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@ catsalad thought you might be interested to know https://www. nbcnews.com/science/environmen t/new-wild-cat-species-identified-rcna598113