A forest ranger catches 36 deer, tags them, and releases them. later 54 deer are caught and it is found that?

8 of them are tagged. estimate how many deer are in the game preserve.. a) 98 b) 243 c) 288 d) 432A forest ranger catches 36 deer, tags them, and releases them. later 54 deer are caught and it is found that?
b.





36/TOTAL = 8/54


means


TOTAL = 36*54/8 = 243





Wouldn't a deer that had already been caught once be harder to catch?A forest ranger catches 36 deer, tags them, and releases them. later 54 deer are caught and it is found that?
Beelzebufo raises a good point. This is the Lincoln-Peterson estimation method and requires that four assumptions are made:





1. All individuals have an equal probability of capture.


2. There is no behavioral response to the initial capture.


3. It is a closed population (no births, deaths, immigration, emigration between capture sessions).


4. Tags are not lost between captures.





In the real world you rarely meet all these criteria. That's why most capture population studies done now are multiple recature studies using methods of Seber or Jolly.





And why is a forest ranger doing the study? He/she should be out cruising timber or arresting tourists for wandering off the path. You'd be better off hiring a wildlife biologist with a background in population ecology.
It would be 36/x times 8/ 54.


What you should do is multiply 36 by 54, and divide by eight.


So it would end up being 243 deer. :]
If you use the direct ratio method the answer is b,





Direct ratio method: 36/x = 8/54, solve for x


8x = (36 * 54)


x = 243
B.