To gather information about the elk population, biologist marked 75 elk. Later, they flew over the region and counted 250 elk, of which 15 were marked. What is the best estimate for the elk population?

Question

To gather information about the elk population, biologist marked 75 elk. Later, they flew over the region and counted 250 elk, of which 15 were marked. What is the best estimate for the elk population?

Responses
A 1,2001,200
B 1,2501,250
C 1,3001,300
D 1,350

Answer 1

To estimate the elk population, we can use a proportion.

Let x be the elk population.

The number of marked elk out of 75 is 15, and the number of marked elk out of 250 is also 15.

So we can set up the proportion:

15/75 = 15/x

Next, we can cross multiply:

15x = 15 * 75

15x = 1125

Now, we can solve for x by dividing both sides by 15:

x = 1125/15

x = 75

So, the best estimate for the elk population is 1,250 (option B).