Pumas Quietly Cut Deer-Related Crashes in Washington
A study of pumas and deer on Washington's Olympic Peninsula finds higher puma activity correlates with fewer deer-vehicle collisions: deer alter their space and reduce nighttime road use around pumas, lowering crash risk by about 67% and potentially reducing total accidents by up to 76% over five years; the effect comes from scaring deer rather than predation, highlighting a possible ecosystem service of coexistence with large predators and prompting future work to quantify any monetary savings.