Question

wombats are animals that are native to australia and are related to kangaroos. to estimate the wombat population, professor beasley’s research group trapped 28 wombats and tagged them. they returned the tagged wombats to the wild, and a week later, trapped 300 wombats. of those wombats, 21 were marked. to the nearest whole number, what is the best estimate for the wombat population?

Explanation:

Step1: Set up proportion

Let \( N \) be the total population. The proportion of tagged wombats in the first sample should equal the proportion in the second sample: \(\frac{28}{N}=\frac{21}{300}\)

Step2: Solve for \( N \)

Cross - multiply: \(21N = 28\times300\)
Calculate \(28\times300 = 8400\)
Then \(N=\frac{8400}{21}\)

Step3: Calculate the value

\(\frac{8400}{21}=400\)

Answer:

400