The nature reserve staff confirmed the veterinarian’s suspicions. Tito was not a house cat; It was a type of small wild cat called the jaguarundi (Puma yaguarundi). Weighing between eight and 16 pounds, the jaguarundi is about the size of a large house cat and currently ranges in size from northern Mexico to South America.
According to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, the jaguarundi was once found as far north as southern Texas. Unfortunately, the jaguarundi is an endangered species. The Horco Molle Nature Reserve preserves Tito and they hope to release him back into the wild when he grows up.
In 2016, for example, a Chinese couple bought what they thought was a Tibetan Mastiff puppy. Two years later, the “dog” weighed 250 pounds and began to walk on its hind legs. Eventually, terrified owners transferred her to the Yunnan Wildlife Rescue Center, which identified the animal as an Asiatic black bear.
Sometimes the reverse happens and a domestic animal is mistaken for a wild animal. Such was the case with Spock the Maine Coon in 2016. He weighed 27 pounds and was nearly four feet tall – and some people were convinced he was a Bobcat.
