| Article ID: | iaor1988686 |
| Country: | Israel |
| Volume: | 25 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Start Page Number: | 612 |
| End Page Number: | 616 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 1988 |
| Journal: | Journal of Applied Probability |
| Authors: | Ridler-Rowe C.J. |
| Keywords: | ecology |
Finiteness of mean extinction times for certain predator-prey models has been established by Hitchcock with the aid of a criterion of Reuter. Using this criterion and a ‘minimisation’ lemma this note shows that the mean extinction times tend to zero as the combined initial population of predators and prey becomes large.