Breeding Suppression in Prey due to Fear of Predator

This paper presents a theoretical model of the impact on a prey’s breeding due to short term heavy predation. The prey suppresses breeding due to short term heavy predation only to restart breeding when predation pressure lowers. The predator consumes both suppressor and breeder of the prey and this prey population is more prone to predation at higher densities. Equilibrium and stability analyses are carried out. Taking a fraction of newborn breeder prey q, a bifurcation parameter, it is shown that Hopf bifurcation could occur.