[waterlesscloud]

That was one of my early thoughts about automated cars: Will we see wildlife return to some areas in greater numbers? Even a small decrease in say mountain lions in LA killed by cars might cause a large increase in breeding over a few years.

What about areas with a lot of deer? Might they become even more overpopulated? Will more starve? Will they be driven even further into settled areas?

Even small changes in the number of deaths might have notable effects.

[sologoub]

So your thoughts are that roadkill is an effective population control for deer? Not really seeing this.

For the mountain lions, that would be overall positive from my view, but of course carries the risk of attacks on pets and humans. These can be mitigated with education, such as don't let your toy dog out unsupervised at night. Lived next to a nature preserve for a couple years and had a mountain lion visit the property on a few occasions. Never had a problem. Rattlesnakes... that's a completely different story...

[maxerickson]

I looked at some numbers for Michigan. Hunters take ~400,000 deer each year, while there are ~50,000 vehicle-deer accidents (I guess the majority of the collisions kill the deer).

I haven't found a convenient source for predators. There are wolves, and coyotes, bobcats and bears. I guess bobcats, coyotes and bears mostly don't go after adults, but they can have a big impact on the number of fawns.

[waterlesscloud]

Not the overall deer population, but around the margins, on the edges of settlements. Seems like it could make a difference there.