Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests recently gave science a new species of wild cat. Now, the same landscape is confronting an expanding gold rush that conservationists say could threaten the tilcayo before researchers have even had the opportunity to fully understand it.
Only weeks after scientists formally described the tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) as a new species, attention is shifting from the significance of its discovery to the future of its habitat.
The small spotted wild cat is native to the Yungas, a mountainous region of tropical and cloud forest extending along the eastern slopes of the Andes. Scientists formally recognized Leopardus tilcayo in September 2026, making it the first living feline species newly described by science in more than a century. Genetic research helped establish that the animal was distinct from other South American tiger cats.
Researchers estimate that the animal measures approximately 46 centimeters, or 18 inches, from its head to the base of its tail and weighs about 1.4 kilograms, or three pounds — smaller than the average domestic cat. Despite its scientific recognition, much about its population, behavior and geographical range remains unknown.
A Discovery Surrounded by a Gold Rush
The forests where the tilcayo lives are also rich in gold.
According to reporting by EL PAÍS, mining activity has increasingly expanded through the Yungas as high gold prices and Bolivia’s economic difficulties encourage mining companies, cooperatives and individuals to search for the metal.
In Coroico, one of the municipalities within the Yungas region, a 2025 survey from Bolivia’s Administrative Mining Jurisdiction Authority identified approximately 16 mining areas authorized to operate and another 129 awaiting approval or under review. EL PAÍS reports that some operations awaiting authorization have already begun activity.
The environmental effects extend well beyond the tilcayo.
Open-pit extraction along riverbanks can involve excavators, trucks and other heavy machinery removing large quantities of soil and sediment. Conservationists have pointed to deforestation, destabilized riverbanks, increased sediment in waterways and habitat destruction as consequences of mining activity in the area. Mercury contamination associated with gold extraction has also raised concerns about water quality.
Mining Reaches Senda Verde
One of the clearest examples of the conflict can be found around the Senda Verde Wildlife Refuge, where the individual tilcayo that helped scientists identify the species has lived since 2017.
Known as Tigrino, the animal was reportedly found near a road as a cub and initially kept by a local family before eventually being transferred to the sanctuary.
Years later, scientists studying the unusual cat determined that it represented a species previously undescribed by science.
Today, mining activity has moved increasingly close to the sanctuary. EL PAÍS reported that soil removal associated with mining contributed to a large crater near the refuge’s entrance, intensifying concerns about what further expansion could mean for wildlife throughout the region.
More Than One Species at Risk
Protecting the tilcayo also means protecting a much larger ecosystem.
The Yungas is home to nearly 930 vertebrate species, according to EL PAÍS, and its forests form an important transition between the Andes and the Amazon basin. Mining pressures are therefore being felt across habitats used by mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and aquatic species.
Communities are increasingly becoming part of the conservation effort.
Twelve communities making up the nearby Río Negro Reserve have been working toward state protection for approximately 6,200 hectares of land. Community representatives told EL PAÍS that several mining cooperatives potentially threaten much of the reserve’s territory.
The situation underscores an unusual conservation challenge: science has only just formally recognized the tilcayo, yet the race to understand and protect the species is already competing with economic pressures transforming the landscape around it.
For researchers, the discovery showed how much remains unknown about South America’s biodiversity.
What happens next may determine whether one of science’s newest wild cats has enough intact wilderness left for researchers to learn its story.