Prey Attracted but Not Repelled by Predators Suggests an Asymmetric Investment in the Encounter-Avoid-Escape Sequence

Understanding predator-prey interactions, particularly how species use space and time to influence encounter rates, is crucial in ecology. Camera traps, while not being able to directly measure encounters of large free-roaming species, can help estimating how species tolerate or avoid proximity with eachother. We used data from a one-year study in four German protected areas used 283 camera traps and applied recurrent event analysis to explore interactions among three prey species (red deer, roe deer, wild boar) and two predators (grey wolf, Eurasian lynx). Prey visitation rates were unaffected by predators, but wolves showed a strong attraction to prey, with visitation rates approximatively seven times higher right after prey occurrence. Insufficient data hindered robust pattern estimation regarding the Eurasian lynx. This suggests an asymmetry where predators need to succeed at every stage of the encounter sequence, while prey can disrupt the process at any stage to avoid being caught.