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Given that Zombie's tend to eat the living, how come there are so many of them around in shows like FTWD, TWD and Z Nation?

Ok, so if you get wounded by a Zombie or die, you turn, but the math doesn't work. The only way I can see it working is if the Zombie's stop feeding once the victim dies, as they only apparently go after living flesh. If this was the case wouldn't there more Zombie's around that basically look like chewed up road kill?

Too much free time on my hands I know

To shatter the illusion a little bit, they're TV shows and are limited by the prosthetics and makeup that an artist can give. It costs a lot of money to simply remove a nose, which is why the only zombies that have that feature are 'hero' zombies, that get a close up or two or are at the front of the pack. Now imagine removing a lower half like the zombie in the first episode of TWD. That was a whole thing that took a lot of work and money. Not practical to do it for many in a horde.

Keep in mind too that TWD already has a system in place for turning people. The zombie virus was airborne and now anyone that dies comes back. So if they die from starvation, gunshot, suicide, whatever, they turn. The bite just kills you, but the established virus is what turns folks into zombies. Those are the ones you see more of.

But you do occasionally get a zombie in a puddle of ick that was turned after being chewed on for an hour or two. Not often, but they have some scenes with them.

You also have to remember that most people who are bit can probably get away and die elsewhere, with relatively little damage. Only if you were really trapped would you get held down and eaten alive. Most people, even relatively weak ones, would probably break free and escape the initial attack more than likely.

That is why alot of zombies are now just a virus that just seeks a new host World War Z style or 28days later style.

The Walking Dead, everyone alive was already infected. The Zombie bite only accelerated the death process.

In that collapse of society, I'd be willing to bet more people died from non-zombie causes, the being bitten, and then just stood back up.

Also, like others said. If Zombie Bob came up and bit me on the arm, I'm not just going to fall over a die. I'm going to run. Then turn into Zombie Jimbob.

Panic and accidents. Those are the only words you need to know. In the first few days of the outbreak all it takes is normal accidents to kill people, who will reanimate. This in turn causes more panic, which causes more accidents. Every day in the US THOUSANDS of people die in ways that would allow them to reanimate. After that, the people around them are simply one nip away from being turned themselves.

Also, I'd like to think that there ARE half-eaten zombies out there. It's just that zombies tend to herd-up in groups that roam around. It you are a legless zombie, that is going to hinder your ability to keep up with the pack. You probably just drag yourself somewhere and go inert. The more mobile zombies are the ones we see more often.