Question

Mr. Roy captures 15 snapping turtles near some wetland by his house. He marks them with a “math is cool” label and releases them back into the wild. 6 months later, he captures another 15 snapping turtles – 4 of which were marked. Estimate the population of snapping turtles in the area to the nearest whole number. Show your work.

Answer 1

Answer: 56

Explanation:

One possible method to estimate the population of snapping turtles in the area is by using the mark and recapture method, also known as the Lincoln-Petersen index.

According to this method, the population size can be estimated by dividing the number of marked individuals in the second sample by the proportion of marked individuals in the combined sample. In other words:

Estimated population size = (Number of individuals in sample 1 × Number of individuals in sample 2) / Number of marked individuals in sample 2

Using the information provided in the problem, we can fill in the formula as follows:

Estimated population size = (15 × 15) / 4

Estimated population size = 56.25

Rounding to the nearest whole number, we get an estimated population size of 56 snapping turtles in the area.