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Cougars go by many names: Mountain lions, panthers, and pumas, to name a few. 

They are not currently established in Minnesota, but new research studied whether they might be one day.

While there have been sightings of cougars in Minnesota, those were animals passing through. There are no established breeding pairs in Minnesota. 

University of Minnesota researcher Michelle LaRue has been working to model how cougars might expand their range across the Midwest.

She spoke about that research with MPR's Tom Weber. She also discussed similar work to study penguins in Antarctica.

Tom Weber

Author

Cougars, or mountain lions, no longer are native to Minnesota. University of Minnesota researcher Michelle LaRue has studied whether the animals might move here in future migration.

University of Minnesota researcher Michelle LaRue joined MPR News host Tom Weber in studio to talk about her recent project to model how cougars will likely expand their range across the Midwest. She also talked about her work using satellite images to study Antarctic animal penguin populations.

Cougars in Minnesota? Research predicts future habitat for big cats

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