Cougars, pumas, and mountain lions. Are they the same animal? Depending on where you live, you’ve probably heard of at least one of these names. While these are all very different, they actually ...

Pumas are, disappointingly, exactly the same as cougars. You call them either puma or cougar depending on where you are. “But, remember Adidas?” my smart cousin asked.

Vermonters have catamounts while Northwesterners have cougars. But, it turns out, there's only one wild cat in the New World, Puma concolor.

Cougars have one of the largest ranges of all kind of animal, meaning they're found all across North America. They're also known as pumas and mountain lions.

Dr. Elbroch is the director of the puma program at Panthera, a nonprofit group focused on protecting the world’s wild cats and the ecosystems they inhabit, and the author of “The Cougar ...