Eat or be eaten: Implications of potential exploitative competition between wolves and humans across predator- savvy and -naive deer populations

Recolonization of predators to their former ranges is becoming increasingly prevalent. Such recolonization places predators amongst their prey once again; the latter having lived without predation (from such predators) for considerable time. This renewed coexistence creates opportunities to explore predation ecology at both fundamental and applied levels.
We used a paired experimental design to investigate white-tailed deer risk allocation in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas (UP and LP) in Michigan, USA. Wolves are functionally absent in the LP, while deer in the UP coexist with a re-established wolf population. We treated 15 sites each in UP and LP with wolf olfactory cues and observed deer vigilance, activity, and visitation rates at the interface of habitat covariates using remote cameras. Such a paired design across wolf versus no-wolf areas allowed us to examine indirect predation effects while accounting for confounding parameters such as the presence of other predators and human ac...