No clamor for cougars State ambivalent where big predator's status is concerned By Jim Lee Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers RHINELANDER - Wisconsin wildlife officials believe wild cougars might be present in Wisconsin from time-to-time but it's unlikely there is a breeding population. Talk of a wild cougar population in the upper Midwest had been greeted with widespread skepticism until recently when Michigan research biologist Patrick J. Rusz began documenting cougar activity in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.