About the Tilcayo Cat — Leopardus tilcayo, the New Wild Cat Species

Q: What is a tilcayo cat?

The tilcayo cat (Leopardus tilcayo) is a newly described species of small wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest. Formally described in September 2026, it is the first new wild cat species identified in more than 100 years.

The only known tilcayo cat, a ten-year-old male, crouching and looking at the camera at Senda Verde Animal Refuge, Bolivia — The only known tilcayo, at Senda Verde Animal Refuge in the Bolivian Yungas.

Close-up portrait of the tilcayo cat facing the camera, tongue tip out, showing the twin black forehead stripes and rosettes — Twin forehead stripes, large rosettes, tongue out: the real face behind the game.

Photos: Fernando Faciole / National Geographic.

The tilcayo cat (Leopardus tilcayo) is a small spotted wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest and the first new wild cat species described in more than 100 years — the first since the Pampas cat in 1923. An international team named it in September 2026 in Current Biology, after a genetic study showed that South America's tiger cats are at least five separate species.

Quick facts

Group: tiger cats (genus Leopardus), South America's small spotted wild cats
Size: about 45 cm (18 in) head-to-body and roughly 1.3 kg (3 lb) — smaller than a house cat
Look: rust-orange coat with large leopard-like rosettes, two dark stripes down the forehead, a long slender tail and a muted fur colour
Home: Yungas cloud forest, Bolivia, in the Andes–Amazon transition zone
Tail: about 25–26.5 cm (10 in)
Lineage: DNA suggests it split from its closest tiger-cat relative around 1.4 million years ago
Known individuals: one, a ten-year-old male at Senda Verde Animal Refuge
Conservation status: not yet assessed by the IUCN
Described in: Lescroart et al., “Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America”, Current Biology (2026)

A discovery by chance

Around 2017 a local family handed a small spotted cat to the Senda Verde Animal Refuge in the Yungas. Wild-cat conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales Ascarrunz met him while volunteering there and noticed he did not match any known tiger cat. Genetic analysis of 38 cats — including 26 tiger cats — led by Nogales Ascarrunz, Jonas Lescroart (University of Antwerp) and Eduardo Eizirik (PUCRS, Brazil) showed the tiger cats are at least five distinct species, one of them entirely new.

That ten-year-old male is still the only known individual of the species. Researchers are now placing camera traps across the Yungas to find tilcayos in the wild, which are easily mistaken for oncillas or margays.

Why "tilcayo"?

"Tilcayo" is the name local communities already used for the cat. The scientists kept it to honour that ancestral knowledge and the communities' connection to the animal.

Why it matters

Finding a new mammal is rare; a new cat is rarer still. The team hopes the description drives conservation of the Yungas forests, one of the least-studied and most species-rich regions of the Neotropics.

Tilcayo cat FAQ

What is a tilcayo cat?

The tilcayo cat (Leopardus tilcayo) is a newly described species of small wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest. Formally described in September 2026, it is the first new wild cat species identified in more than 100 years.

Is the tilcayo cat real?

Yes. It was formally described in September 2026 in the journal Current Biology by a team including Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, Jonas Lescroart and Eduardo Eizirik, based on the genomes of 38 cats.

How big is a tilcayo cat?

It is smaller than an average house cat: roughly 45 cm (18 in) from head to the base of the tail, a tail of about 25 cm (10 in), and about 1.3 kg (3 lb).

Where does the tilcayo cat live?

In the Bolivian Yungas, a cloud-forest region on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The only known individual lives at the Senda Verde Animal Refuge in the Yungas.

How is it different from an oncilla?

It looks similar, but the tilcayo has larger rosette markings, a longer and more slender tail and a more muted coat. Its DNA shows it split from its closest tiger-cat relative about 1.4 million years ago.

Is the tilcayo cat endangered?

Nobody knows yet. It has not been assessed by the IUCN and only one individual is known, so researchers are setting camera traps across the Yungas to find wild tilcayos and estimate how many there are.

Sources

The game's artwork is an original illustration inspired by these photographs.

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