In the 1920s, mathematicians Vito Volterra and Alfred Lotka independently proposed
a model for populations of a predator species and its prey, such as hawk and
squirrel populations in a certain area. For simplicity, we assume that a hawk hunts
only squirrels and that no other animal eats squirrels. If the hawk’s only food source
is squirrel and the number of squirrels diminishes significantly, then scarcity of food
will result in starvation for some of the hawks. With reduced numbers of hawks, the
squirrel population should increase.
