Camera trap photo of rare cat wins prize

The photo, which won the New Discoveries category, documents the first-known occurrence of this extremely rare spotted cat in Madidi National Park.

The Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) occurs across the Amazon and along the tropical Andes. About the size of a house cat, they are the smallest cat species of South America's lowlands. Very little is known about their life history.

WCS researchers Guido Ayala, Maria Viscarra, and Robert Wallace submitted the photo taken last July during camera trap surveys of jaguars and other wildlife living in Madidi -- considered to be among the most biodiverse protected areas on the planet.

More than 1,300 entries were submitted from around the world. The winning entry received £1,000 (approximately $1,500), courtesy of Paramo Directional Clothing Systems and the World Land Trust.

The new record for oncilla in Madidi pushes the number of confirmed cat species in the park to six with at least two more waiting to be confirmed. Madidi National Park contains 11 percent of the world's birds, more than 200 species of mammals, almost 300 types of fish, and 12,000 plant varieties. The 19,000 square-kilometer (7,335 square mile) park is known for its array of altitudinal gradients and habitats from lowland tropical forests of the Amazon to snow-capped peaks of the High Andes.

The Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program aims to develop local capacity to conserve the landscape and mitigate a variety of threats, including road construction, logging, and agricultural expansion.

WCS's work in the Madidi-Tambopata Landscape has been made possible by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the blue moon fund, the Beneficia Foundation, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and other generous supporters.

The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000, seeks to advance environmental conservation, patient care and scientific research. The goal of the Foundation's Andes-Amazon Initiative is to maintain the climatic function and biodiversity of the Amazon Basin by promoting forest conservation and addressing the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.