A disarmingly cute newborn jaguarundi, sometimes called an eyra cat, was rescued by officers from Fuerza Publica (the national police force of Costa Rica) on Friday afternoon.

The rescue took place in Gamalotal, a rural district of Nicoya in the province of Guanacaste. According to an official press released issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the wild kitten was actually found on a dirt road by a local resident, who thought she found a lost domestic kitten.

Neighbors who noticed that the found feline had unusually thick paws and an elongated tail notified the regional office of Fuerza Publica. By the time officers were en route to investigate, the woman who found the jaguarandi had decided to turn it over.

The officers who responded to the call were smitten by the wild kitten, which was taken to the Nicoya office of the Ministry of the Environment. Wildlife management officials determined that the puma cub was in good health before taking it to a sanctuary where it will be supervised before being returned to its habitat.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Eyra cats are one of the six wild feline species of Costa Rica, and they like to roam the tropical dry forest of Guanacaste. At the Las Pumas Rescue Center in the province, cubs are usually quarantined before they begin a process of rehabilitation that lasts four months and is complete when they are returned to their habitat.

The jaguarundi is unique among wildcats due to its coat, which goes through color-changing phases. For this reason, these cats are often confused with pumas or jaguars when they are in between phases. Jaguarundis roam all over Costa Rica, but they seem to like Guanacaste and are often spotted near beach communities such as Playas del Coco. Although their status is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are being displaced by the considerable real estate development across Guanacaste.