The tilcayo is the new wild cat on the block

The tiny, three-pound tilcayo is the first cat species to be described in a century, and, yes—it is as cute as you’d think.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:17Speaker 01

  Hey, it's Flora and you're listening to Science Friday. Big news in tiny cats. An itty bitty three-pound spotted cat from Bolivia called the Tilkayo is the first new wild cat species described in more than 100 years. Tilkayo pics have been catnip on social media. I mean, it's adorable. It's grumpy looking in a characteristic cat way. But there's so much more to Tilkayo's tale, including the fascinating and kind of hard to believe story behind its discovery. So today, we're talking to the biologist who worked for nearly 10 years to describe this flashy feline.

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  Paola Nogales Escarruns leads the Bolivian Fielid Research and Conservation Program, which studies wild cats like jaguars, ocelots, and margays. Paola, welcome to Science Friday.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  Hi, Flora. Thank you for having me here on Science Friday. I'm so happy.

• 1:16Speaker 01

  I am so happy to have you. I feel like Tilkayo is a celebrity. Would you agree?

• 1:22Speaker 02

  I totally agree. Like, that cat is everywhere. You know, you open TikTok, you open Facebook or Instagram, and the cat is there, which is amazing, isn't it? Like, we have a great celebrity. Like, we are not focusing on people talking about politics or showing, like, makeup. Our cat is, like, showing how beautiful it is.

• 1:42Speaker 01

  Yes, more cat celebrities. 100% agree. Let's talk about this cat's backstory. How was it first found?

• 1:51Speaker 02

  Okay, so there was a guy in the Yungas Forest. So it's not in the city or something like that, you know? Imagine like a rural place. He was walking and he found a kitten in the road. And it was dirty and it was, like, raining. So he took it and take it at home because it was like, you know, like a kitten. And then, like, the cat started, like, growing a little bit, but not that much. He told us that he lived with the cat one year, but the cat started, like, chasing the chickens, you know, like, having weird behavior. It was not like a domestic cat. And that's how he realized that it was like a wild cat.

• 2:32Speaker 02

  And he took it, like, to the rescue center, to the refuge, which is Senda Verde.

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  He knew something was different. When did you and this cat meet?

• 2:40Speaker 02

  Okay, so I met when I went to Senda Verde, you know? Like, I did, like, some volunteer there. And it was the first time I saw this cat. It was in his enclosure, you know? And the cat, like, started going down from his house, like, pretty, like, slow. And it was so slender and so tiny. I cannot, like, describe, like, I was so amazed because I work with cats, you know? And, like, I have the jaguars in my mind and I have ocelots, which are big. And then you have, like, this tiny thing. And I remember I asked the people there, like, is this like a kitten or a juvenile? Like, they told me, no, it's an adult. And I couldn't believe it because it was, like, really, really small and slender.

• 3:23Speaker 02

  And then he went down and started, like, you know, walking really fast because I wanted to take pictures. And I took, like, nearly 100 pictures of the cat. But all the pictures are really awful, you know? Like, part of the ear, the tail, something like that. It was amazing.

• 3:39Speaker 01

  So you first met this cat in 2017. Why did it take so long to describe it as a new species? What was the work involved there?

• 3:47Speaker 02

  Okay, so I, like, that was what we know about Leopardus tigrinus, which was the species, you know? So for me and for all the scientists here, that was a Leopardus tigrinus. So that was not dubbed.

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  That's the genus that it's a part of?

• 4:02Speaker 02

  Yes, it was the other, the other species. Like, all of these tiger cats were called Leopardus tigrinus before our paper.

• 4:10Speaker 01

  That's the species this cat had been gripped into. Leopardus tigrinus, also known as a tiger cat.

• 4:16Speaker 02

  Yes. So this cat is, you know, it was a Leopardus tigrinus for science. And for local, they have this name, Tilkayo, to differentiate this cat from the Joffre's cat, from the ocelot, from the jaguar, like, from the other cats in the region. So, like, when I realized, like, it was different, it was because I was writing a booklet, you know? So I checked a book of cats. And I saw, like, the description of the cat and there was a picture of a Brazilian one. And I saw the picture and then I saw, like, the cat I was showing. And I was like, of course, the picture is, like, the book is so wrong. Like, what happened with these people? And also, the description was, like, like, the smallest spots, you know? It didn't match. And that's how I started doing the genetics.

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  So the first time I did the genetics on these cats, the results were a mess. You know, like, I was so young and I was so dumb. So I did the genetic of this. You know, I first tried with saliva. I took saliva from the cat. I went to the lab. I did the genetic analysis. And then I realized, like, that the results didn't match. I was like, oh, my God, like, I'm so unexpert in this. Like, I shouldn't do this anymore. And I didn't share that result with no one. The next time, like, I did--

• 5:29Speaker 01

  Because you thought it was wrong, right? Because it's like this--

• 5:31Speaker 02

  Of course, like, there is no, there is no way you can, you're going to say, like, you know, I discovered something new. It's like, of course, the first thing you think is that you are wrong. So then I tried again with the, with the, with some hair and the result was the same. So I just leave it. I didn't continue because I was wrong. Then I got, like, more, like, more training on genetics and I went back. And that's how, why it took, like, so much time. Because maybe sometimes we don't believe that we think, like, you know, we discover something new. It's like, of course, the first thing as young people, we think is that we are doing something wrong.

• 6:08Speaker 01

  I've heard this from so many scientists. That's how you're trained to think, that if you get a big, giant result, you have to be very skeptical of it.

• 6:15Speaker 02

  Yes, totally. And also, we were, like, when we had the results, we were saying, like, okay, we need to be sure, like, okay, it's a new species, but, but let's, let's be sure that they've not described it before. So we need to go to the museums to ask if there were another skins or, like, even we, we try to learn about the naturalists, like, all scientists that came to Bolivia, like, why they didn't do a description of this cat. So it's, it's like something that, you know, scientists, we are always about maybe, depends on the species. We are not like, of course, of course, it's new. You have to believe me. You know, science is, it's about being skeptical.

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  What's been the reaction in Bolivia?

• 6:53Speaker 02

  Oh, my God, everything here is crazy. Like, everyone is so happy of the cat, you know? It's, it's like, like, everyone starts talking about the cat. You know, I just, I use public transport. So I was in one of these buses and I heard, like, people talking about the cat. And I was like, it is amazing, like, people is talking about the cat. Also, you know, politics wants to do, like, a Tilkayo law to protect the cat, which is like the good part of this. There is a lot of, also, like, there are initiatives of street art of the cat. Like, there are people that are doing walls, like, it's in Spanish, but I'm, I'm going to try to translate, like, it's long line to the cat and not to the president, you know, like, to our actual president. So it's so beautiful.

• 7:38Speaker 02

  And also, like, like, in what are happening in Bolivia. Because we basically are, like, in some problems. Let's say we have problems with dollars. We have problems, we don't have petrol and we have, like, a lot of corruption. But we have a new cat and everyone is so excited, like, yes, we have a cat and it's a Bolivia cat. So it's, it's kind of like, I think, like, this cat bring happiness to my country, which is, like, really, really amazing for, for me at least.

• 8:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, and it sounds like maybe new conservation approaches, too.

• 8:10Speaker 02

  Yes, I think, like, now people want to study the cat. And that would really be, like, useful for the cat and also some other conservation actions. But not for the cat only. Like, let me talk about the Yungas Forest. You know, like, no one care about this forest. And they are already, like, deforestation, there are all mining. So there are many things of, of this. And as a conservationist, too, if we start, like, talking about, like, these umbrella species, we think about jaguars, bears, you know, like, big mammals that usually are the umbrella species, you know, are flag species, so where people like it and then they start doing conservation. And now I think, like, this tiny animal, it's a flag species

• 8:53Speaker 02

  because there are several organizations that want to do conservation of the Yungas Forest because the cat live there and, and everyone loves the cat. So we need to protect the cat, which is kind of grateful because we are also protecting other species.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Do you, do you feel like small cats get the attention they deserve? I feel like we hear a lot about big wild cats, at least here in the US.

• 9:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think don't, like, they don't. I work in conservation of cats. And most of the grants I got are for, for protecting jaguars. So I always do, like, okay, I'm going to do a workshop about protecting jaguars and also the cats. So let's do the family of cats, you know? So, because it's so hard to get funding to do conservation of a small cat.

• 9:35Speaker 01

  You know, I've read that they're secretive. The small cats are secretive. Is that true?

• 9:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, so it's something, you know, it's something unfair. Because if you're working with giraffes, you're going to see them. If you're going to with elephants, you're going to see elephants. But if you're working with the small cats, you're going to see us cats. Nothing else, you know? You can put a camera trap and maybe you're going to see an ear, you know? You're going to see a tail. It's not that easy to spot. And, and it's so hard to see them in the wild that is, you know, like, you can spend, like, your life working with cats and maybe you're never going to see a small cat. So it's something really unfair for us that are cat lovers and want to do cats because there is, like, few opportunities to see them. So, yeah, that's the ungrateful part of working with the small cats.

• 10:24Speaker 01

  We talk to so many scientists on this show and such a big part of their job is, like, scrounging for funding, trying to make a case for their work and why it's important. Do you feel like you're at a turning point?

• 10:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I'm going to tell something funny. I don't, okay, so to pay the bills, I don't do cats. I work with crops and I do quinoa and I do canhawa, you know, like, genetics of those to pay the bills. And I do just cats because I love them. And I, like, it's what I would like to do. And in this life, you have to be happy and you have to do the things that make you happy. So I want to, I want to believe that I'm in this turning point and maybe I can get some grants and maybe, like, have an NGO, like, to have, like, some funds to do conservation of cats. But it didn't happen yet, you know? The cat just was discovered two, two, two weeks ago and I didn't have a call of any millionaire, like, say, like, you know, I'm going to give you this.

• 11:24Speaker 02

  Call me, millionaires, if you are interested in funding my job. I can give you my phone. But I didn't have this, that call yet. But I wish I have it. And I can just dedicate my life to do cats and, and not crops.

• 11:39Speaker 01

  Millionaire cat freaks, if you're listening, you know where to go. Paola, thank you for sharing your story with us. I appreciate it.

• 11:47Speaker 02

  Thank you so much, Flora. And thank you for sharing, like, this amazing news of our new cat in Bolivia, the Tilkayo, that from Bolivia to the world.

• 11:56Speaker 01

  The Tilkayo from Bolivia to the world. I love it. Paola Nogales Escarruns is a National Geographic Explorer and biologist leading the Bolivian Fielid Research and Conservation Program.

• 12:15Speaker 01

  Before we go, let me just put this bug in your head. October is here, which means it is time to plan your Halloween costume. And I wanted to let you know that Science Friday's Nightmare on Nerd Street is rising from the grave. That is our annual Halloween costume contest. So get out that sketchpad, fire up that hot glue gun, because we will be holding a contest for your nerdiest, most nightmarish costume. Details coming soon, but just wanted to give you a severed heads up. This episode was produced by Rasha Aridi. Thank you for listening. I'm Flora Lichtman.