A study from 2016, authored by nine wildlife scientists, modeled the predator-prey relation between cougars and white-tailed deer.28 They reported that within thirty years, a vibrant predator population dining upon unwanted deer can avoid 21,400 injuries, prevent 155 human deaths, and save $2.1 billion, all from car accidents that won’t happen. Naturally, cougars also occasionally eat people, especially small wayward children—the model predicts about thirty of them. So we have two choices: 1) Introduce hungry cats that eat thirty people in thirty years, or 2) don’t introduce hungry cats, and
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