Extol ecologist's part in bringing up wild cat (6)
I believe the answer is:
ocelot
'wild cat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'extol ecologist's part in bringing up' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'bringing up' is a reversal indicator (I've seen 'brought up' mean this (in a down clue, letters go up)).
'toleco' is hidden in the letters of 'extol ecologists part'.
'toleco' back-to-front is 'OCELOT'.
(Other definitions for ocelot that I've seen before include "Feline mammal" , "Striped and spotted wildcat" , "Leopard-like cat of S America" , "Feline of South and Central America" , "Wild cat of the Americas" .)