129k views
3 votes
Wolves and moose have a predator prey relationship. If the predator population contracted a disease and it could not hunt the prey for a little while, what would happen to the prey species at first and why?

1 Answer

5 votes

If the predator population (wolves) contracted a disease and could not hunt the prey (moose) for a little while, the prey species (moose) would likely experience an initial increase in population.

The reason for this is that with fewer wolves hunting them, the moose would face less predation pressure and would be able to reproduce and survive more successfully. This would lead to an increase in the moose population.

However, this increase would likely be temporary, as the larger moose population would eventually lead to increased competition for resources such as food and space, and could result in disease outbreaks and other negative impacts on the moose population. Additionally, if the wolf population remained low or failed to recover, the moose population could eventually exceed the carrying capacity of their environment, leading to starvation and other negative impacts on the moose population.

User Bodich
by
7.7k points