Predators are evasive in the middle of protests (7)
I believe the answer is:
coyotes
'predators' is the definition.
(coyotes are predators)
'evasive in the middle of protests' is the wordplay.
'evasive' becomes 'coy' (coy can mean shy or evasive).
'in the middle of' means to look at the middle letters (I've seen 'in the middle' mean this).
The centre of 'protests' is 'otes'.
'coy'+'otes'='COYOTES'
'are' is the link.
(Other definitions for coyotes that I've seen before include "North American predators" , "Prairie wolves" , "American prairie dogs" .)