Overview
- A peer‑reviewed paper in Current Biology published this week formally names Leopardus tilcayo as a new wild‑cat species based on genome sequencing and comparative analysis.
- Researchers report the tilcayo lineage split from related South American 'tiger cats' about 1.4 million years ago, but scientists have analysed only two confirmed live specimens and a handful of camera‑trap records.
- One known individual, nicknamed Tigrino, was rescued after years living with a family and now lives at the Senda Verde sanctuary near La Paz where staff limit public viewings because the animal becomes highly stressed around strangers.
- Confirmed records so far come only from Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, an area threatened by deforestation and mining, which raises immediate conservation concern and means an IUCN risk assessment is still needed.
- The scientific announcement has driven heavy social‑media interest and a surge in visitor requests that the sanctuary is managing cautiously while researchers plan expanded surveys, genetic sampling and ecological studies.