Relaxation oscillations and canard explosion in a predator–prey system of Holling and Leslie types

Abstract

We give a geometric analysis of relaxation oscillations and canard cycles in a singularly perturbed predator–prey system of Holling and Leslie types. We discuss how the canard cycles are found near the Hopf bifurcation points. The transition from small Hopf-type cycles to large relaxation cycles is also discussed. Moreover, we outline one possibility for the global dynamics. Numerical simulations are also carried out to verify the theoretical results.