Can you imagine finding a unicorn? That's basically what happened here.
This new feline species is no longer a local legend. The 'fox-cat' or "ghjattu-volpe" (in Corsican) was discovered on a French Island called Corsica. We are told not to confuse this new species with the Borneo Cat Fox.
According to researchers from the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS), in charge of a study dedicated to the animal, this fox-cat could actually be a new species. For years the fox-cat has been a local legend and only found in literature as a predator that would take out entire herds of goats.
"It is much longer than an average cat, measuring around 90cms, its ears are larger, it has overly developed canines and the tip of its tail ends in a black tuft."
This is being called an extraordinary discovery.
VIDEO: In the Asco forest in Corsica, two agents of the National Hunting and Wildlife Office (ONCFS) show AFP what they think is a new feline species pic.twitter.com/txeLeqzjhw
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 14, 2019
Researchers thought they were crazy looking for an animal that was a myth and in literature! Then they caught one in a chicken coop.
RFI News tells us that, "over the last ten years, experts from the ONCFS have been able to identify 16 "cat-foxes", including a female in the mountainous areas of the Asco Valley (Upper Corsica) which rises to some 2,500 meters in altitude."
Twelve animals have been captured and then released. They're like to see the cat protected.
Check out this statistic from the RFI report:
"It could've arrived at the time of the second human colonisation which dates back 6,500 years before our era. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it's origin would be considered middle-eastern."
They have GPS collars to monitor activities moving forward to determine eating habits and reproduction. Stay Foxy, fox-cat!
What do you think of this new feline species? Would you like to own this exotic pet? Please let us know in the comments.
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