For the first time in a century, scientists say they’ve discovered a new species of wild cat. Closely related to the oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), the newly discovered feline, Leopardus tilcayo, lives in the remote forests of Bolivia.
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Wildlife photographer Fernando Faciole went with scientist Paola Nogales Ascarrunz to document the species, which Ascarrunz first spotted in Bolivia a decade ago. Genetic testing ended up proving the animal wasn’t an oncilla but something unique, something new to science. Faciole shared photos of the new species for the world to see.
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“This is WILD!!” he wrote in his Instagram post sharing the photos. “A new species of wild cat. Just let that sink in for a second. I was invited by the @natgeosociety to travel to Bolivia and join Paola Nogales Ascarrunz (@paonogasca) in the Yungas, where she discovered a cat that turned out to be something science had never described before: Leopardus tilcayo. [. . .] We live in a world that sometimes feels completely mapped, photographed, categorized, and understood. And then you walk into a forest in Bolivia . . . and there’s a cat we didn’t know existed.”
See photos of the new species of wild cat, Leopardus tilcayo, below.
Header stock image by Anton Petrus/Getty Images
