What Happens When Your New Cat Species Goes Mega-Viral?

For seven weeks this past summer, Vicky Ossio didn’t know if any of the 1,200 rescued animals in her care would survive.

Ossio is the co-founder of Senda Verde, a Bolivian wildlife sanctuary two-and-a-half hours from the capital city of La Paz. Senda Verde lies in one of the areas that was severely affected by anti-government road blockades, which cut off the flow of fuel and food in the country this summer. Each week, she needs to source nearly 500 pounds of meat to feed all the Andean bears, jaguars, and many wild cats in her care. “I would wake up and the only thing I did during the whole day is try to find food,” says Ossio.

Miraculously, Senda Verde survived the blockades by buying in-season fruit from their neighbors and relying on a flock of 60 egg-laying chickens. But the experience was still fresh in Ossio’s mind when the news broke last month: Scientists had confirmed that one of the wild cats in the sanctuary was, in fact, a newly discovered species, now known as the tilcayo. Native to Bolivia, genetics revealed that the small, spotted feline had diverged from other members of the tiger cat species complex around 1.4 million years ago.

For seven weeks this past summer, Vicky Ossio didn’t know if any of the 1,200 rescued animals in her care would survive.

Ossio is the co-founder of Senda Verde, a Bolivian wildlife sanctuary two-and-a-half hours from the capital city of La Paz. Senda Verde lies in one of the areas that was severely affected by anti-government road blockades, which cut off the flow of fuel and food in the country this summer. Each week, she needs to source nearly 500 pounds of meat to feed all the Andean bears, jaguars, and many wild cats in her care. “I would wake up and the only thing I did during the whole day is try to find food,” says Ossio.

Miraculously, Senda Verde survived the blockades by buying in-season fruit from their neighbors and relying on a flock of 60 egg-laying chickens. But the experience was still fresh in Ossio’s mind when the news broke last month: Scientists had confirmed that one of the wild cats in the sanctuary was, in fact, a newly discovered species, now known as the tilcayo. Native to Bolivia, genetics revealed that the small, spotted feline had diverged from other members of the tiger cat species complex around 1.4 million years ago.

For seven weeks this past summer, Vicky Ossio didn’t know if any of the 1,200 rescued animals in her care would survive.

Ossio is the co-founder of Senda Verde, a Bolivian wildlife sanctuary two-and-a-half hours from the capital city of La Paz. Senda Verde lies in one of the areas that was severely affected by anti-government road blockades, which cut off the flow of fuel and food in the country this summer. Each week, she needs to source nearly 500 pounds of meat to feed all the Andean bears, jaguars, and many wild cats in her care. “I would wake up and the only thing I did during the whole day is try to find food,” says Ossio.

Miraculously, Senda Verde survived the blockades by buying in-season fruit from their neighbors and relying on a flock of 60 egg-laying chickens. But the experience was still fresh in Ossio’s mind when the news broke last month: Scientists had confirmed that one of the wild cats in the sanctuary was, in fact, a newly discovered species, now known as the tilcayo. Native to Bolivia, genetics revealed that the small, spotted feline had diverged from other members of the tiger cat species complex around 1.4 million years ago.