In May 1965, prior to Togawa's return to the island, a group of children from on a field trip to the southern part of the island found a weakened, injured male Iriomote cat at the base of the small on . The teacher in charge of the children took the cat. Another teacher preserved the pelt in formalin and buried the skeleton in a wooden box behind the school. Togawa exhumed the remains, and this cat became the prototype for the species. In addition to this example, the scientists also were able to obtain the crushed skull of a kitten from the neighboring Yubu Island that was later reconstructed by Imaizumi.