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A Giant Cat Reappears in Peru after 2,000 Years

The feline figure on a hillside in Nazca, Peru.
The feline figure on a hillside in Nazca, Peru. Image: Peru’s Ministry of Culture-Nasca-Palpa (AP)

Workers in Peru accidentally stumbled upon a 120-foot-long (37-meter) drawing of a cat on Mirador Natural Hill, which looks over the Nazca Lines UNESCO site. The feline geoglyph dates back some 2,000 years to the Paracas culture (so, technically speaking, the artwork doesn’t belong to the Nazca, who appeared later in the region). The drawing of the gigantic cat was overlooked for so long because the lines were very badly faded. Recent restoration work shows the cat in detail, with its head turned toward the viewer.