Woman's rescue 'kitten' turns out to be a wild animal

When Florencia Lobo uncovered two small kittens near Santa Rosa de Leales, Argentina, she assumed they had been abandoned by their mother.

Lobo and her brother thought they were doing a good deed when they took the two baby animals in. Only one survived, and they named him Tito.

Two months after discovering Tito, Lobo took him to the vet and was met with some unexpected news: Tito was a jaguarundi, not a cat.

According to Inside Edition, these small wildcats can be found in the southern U.S., as well as Central and South America. Their diet is typically reptiles, frogs, birds and fish, and they excel at swimming and climbing.

But since Tito is a wild animal, the vet advised Lobo against trying to domesticate him.

Per the vet's recommendation, Lobo delivered Tito to the wildlife experts at the Reserva Experimental Horco Molle in Yerba Buena, Argentina. There he will be taken care of until he's ready to return to his natural habitat.

In September 2019, a woman in Tennessee also thought she was rescuing an abandoned kitten on the roadside before discovering it was a wild animal.

After posting a photo on Facebook and consulting with a neighbor, she realized that she had brought a juvenile bobcat into her home. The bobcat was brought to the For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue, where she will stay until she's ready to join the nearby colony of bobcats.

The Humane Society of the United States says unless the animal is visibly injured, there is no need to "rescue" anything. If you're sure the animal needs help, call a wildlife rehabilitator or animal shelter instead.