The tilcayo, a tiny spotted cat from Bolivia's cloud forests that scientists described this month as the first entirely new wild cat species in more than 100 years, may already need increased protection, according to a leading small-cat conservationist. Researchers do not yet know how many tilcayos exist, and naming a new species can shrink the known population of the animals around it.

"Once three species become five species, each population is reduced," Jim Sanderson, founder and director of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, told National Geographic, as reported by Smithsonian Magazine. Sanderson, who was not involved in the research, said conservation efforts must increase, perhaps urgently, depending on estimated population sizes.

That warning shifts the story from discovery to responsibility. A species that scientists had not described until this month now needs basic answers about where it lives, how many remain, and what threatens it.

A New Name, Smaller Populations

The species, Leopardus tilcayo, was described in a study published September 17, 2026, in the journal Current Biology. It lives in the Bolivian Yungas, the cloud forest where the eastern slopes of the Andes meet the Amazon basin. Adults weigh just 3 to 4 pounds, smaller than a house cat, and have large, irregular rosettes on light brown fur.

The tilcayo belongs to a group known as tiger cats, small spotted felines found in Central and South America. With its addition, scientists now recognize five tiger cat species. The team also described a new subspecies in Peru's Yungas, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo.

Conservation assessments are built species by species. When a single widespread species is split into several, each may occupy a much smaller range and hold far fewer animals. A tiger cat that looked secure across a continent can suddenly look vulnerable once its populations are divided among separate species, each facing its own local threats.

From a Roadside Kitten to a Genetic Surprise

The tilcayo's story began around 2016, when a local man found what he thought was a domestic kitten on a forest road near La Paz. He fed it noodles, rice, and eggs for about a year before realizing it was probably wild and taking it to the Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary.

There, biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, founder of the Bolivian Felids Research Program and a National Geographic Explorer, met the male cat nicknamed Tigrino. She first suspected it was a northern tiger cat, but its small size, oversized rosettes, and tail did not match. A genetic analysis of 38 individuals from the Leopardus genus confirmed that it belonged to a species new to science.

The researchers estimate that the tilcayo lineage split from its relatives about 1.4 million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene. As glaciers advanced and retreated, tropical lowland forests turned to dry savanna while humid mountain forests acted as refuges, isolating cat populations long enough for them to diverge. The team kept the name tilcayobecause it is what local people already call the animal.

Knowledge Gaps Standing in the Way

Much of what matters for conservation is still unknown. Scientists do not know the tilcayo's population size or full range. Scat samples suggest it may eat small rodents, and camera-trap footage hints that it could be nocturnal, but these are early clues rather than confirmed findings.

Smithsonian's reporting lists deforestation, habitat fragmentation, disease, and wildlife trafficking among the threats facing tiger cats once their populations are split among several species. Cloud forests like the Yungas are narrow bands of habitat on steep mountainsides, which can leave species there with little room to move.

The tilcayo has not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List, the global standard for extinction risk. Its close relative, the northern tiger cat, already has its own assessment. A listing for the tilcayo will require field surveys, which could take years.

The study firmly establishes the species through genetic and physical evidence, but it cannot yet say how widespread or rare the cat is.

Lessons From America's Own Spotted Cat

The tilcayo shares its genus with a cat familiar to Texans. The ocelot, Leopardus pardalis, shows how small a U.S. cat population can become. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fact sheet on the ocelot says fewer than 100 ocelots exist in the United States, in South Texas at Lower Rio Grande Valley and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuges near Alamo, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, and on a nearby private ranch. The species has been listed as endangered since 1982.

Efforts to protect South Texas ocelots have included wildlife crossings beneath roads, habitat restoration, and partnerships with private landowners. Similar tools, from habitat corridors to community monitoring with residents who already know the cat by name, could prove useful in Bolivia if surveys show the tilcayo's population is small.

Americans can support small-cat conservation by never buying wild cats or products made from them and by reporting suspected wildlife crimes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The most important next step is field work: camera traps and genetic sampling across the Yungas to map where tilcayos live and estimate their numbers. Those results will determine whether Sanderson's warning becomes an urgent call for protection.

What Readers Want to Know

What is the tilcayo?

The tilcayo, Leopardus tilcayo, is a small spotted wild cat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests, described in Current Biology on September 17, 2026.

Why is it called the first new cat species in a century?

It is the first entirely new wild cat species identified since the pampas cat in 1923. Other recent additions came from splitting existing species.

Is the tilcayo endangered?

Its status has not been assessed. Scientists do not yet know how many exist, which is why conservationists say surveys are needed.

Why does naming a new species raise conservation concerns?

Splitting one species into several divides its population and range, so each species may be more vulnerable than the original appeared.

How big is the tilcayo?

Adults weigh about 3 to 4 pounds, smaller than a typical house cat.

Is the tilcayo related to cats in the United States?

Yes. It belongs to the same genus as the ocelot, an endangered cat with fewer than 100 individuals in the United States, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fact sheet.