Giant cat figure etched on hillside found in Peru desert

A huge cat figure carved on a desert hillside in Nazca, Peru has been discovered by archaeologists recently. According to Peru’s Ministry of Culture, the feline was carved on a desert hillside over 2,000 years ago and measures approximately 37 meters (121 feet).

The discovery of the cat figure was made during the maintenance work which was being done to improve access to one of the hills that provides visitor’s a vantage point from which many of the designs can be seen.

The catlike geoglyph — which experts say dates to 200 B.C. to 100 B.C. — is the latest discovery among the carvings of larger-than-life animals and plants previously found between the towns of Nazca and Palpa, in a desert plain about 250 miles southeast of the capital, Lima.

The Nazca Lines were first discovered by a Peruvian aerial survivor in 1927. Images of humming bird, a monkey and an orca were unearthed at the site. UNESCO has designated the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpas a world heritage site since 1994. The cat etching is believed to be older than any of the prehistoric geoglyphs previously unearthed at Nazca.