Welcome to Movebank's data repository!
Through this repository, Movebank allows users to publish animal tracking datasets that have been uploaded to Movebank (www.movebank.org). Published datasets have gone through a submission and review process, and are typically associated with a written study published in an academic journal. All animal tracking data in this repository are available to the public.
We invite you to read more about the repository and browse the datasets.
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Recent Publications
Moveapps Workflow
MoveApps Workflow: Evaluate data and create simple animations
(MoveApps, 2025-03-28) Davidson, Sarah; Scharf, Anne K.; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Kölzsch, Andrea; Hebblewhite, Mark
Data package
Data from: Study "Bobcat spatial ecology study in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington"
(2025-05-15) Serieys, Laurel E.K.; Wong, Wai-Ming
Forests are critical for sustaining biodiversity and provide vital ecosystem services globally, including renewable timber sources, nutrient flow, climate regulation, water supply and purification, and carbon sequestration. Human-caused forest loss, fragmentation, and degradation have resulted in biodiversity declines globally; unsustainable timber-logging is one of the largest drivers of forest loss and degradation. Harvest-driven shifts in forest structure and composition have considerable implications for wildlife species, with logging activities appearing beneficial for some wildlife species and detrimental to others. Our objective was to determine the effects of logging activities on fine-scale carnivore movement and habitat selection. We generated step selection functions from 1-hour interval spatial data from nine GPS-collared bobcats. Specifically, we examined how different post-harvest forest stands and canopy cover influenced bobcat habitat selection while controlling for other landscape features such as slope and distance to paved roads, logging roads, and streams in the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington, USA. We also tested the percent at which bobcat selection for canopy cover saturates. We found that bobcats avoided the young forest stands less than 5 years of age and older and mature forest stands exceeding 40 years of age. Bobcats selected for the forest age class spanning 6–15 years and gentler slopes. We also found that bobcat selection for canopy cover peaked at 66 % canopy cover. Our findings highlight the importance of evaluating different forms of human modification on species' habitat selection to inform how human resource extraction impacts species.
Data package
Data from: Study "Caracal movement ecology study in Cape Town, South Africa"
(2025-05-01) Serieys, Laurel E.K.; Bishop, Jacqueline M.
Human activities increasingly challenge wild animal populations by disrupting ecological connectivity and population persistence. Yet, human-modified habitats can provide resources, resulting in selection of disturbed areas by generalist species. To investigate spatial and temporal responses of a generalist carnivore to human disturbance, we investigated habitat selection and diel activity patterns in caracals (Caracal caracal). We GPS-collared 25 adults and subadults in urban and wildland-dominated subregions in Cape Town, South Africa. Selection responses for landscape variables were dependent on subregion, animal age class, and diel period. Contrary to expectations, caracals did not become more nocturnal in urban areas. Caracals increased their selection for proximity to urban areas as the proportion of urban area increased. Differences in habitat selection between urban and wildland caracals suggest that individuals of this generalist species exhibit high behavioral flexibility in response to anthropogenic disturbances that emerge as a function of habitat context.
Data package
Data from: The owl gull: exclusively nocturnal foraging by the Swallow-tailed Gull Creagrus furcatus in Galápagos
(2025-03-12) Cruz, Sebastian; Halpin, Luke R.; Proaño, Carolina B.; Anderson, David J.; Wikelski, Martin
Colony-based observations indicate that Swallow-tailed Gulls Creagrus furcatus go to sea only at night. Here, we use GPS tracking technology to reveal the species' exclusively nocturnal foraging behavior at four colonies in the Galápagos Islands. All nocturnal trips proved to be foraging effort in pelagic waters 19-103 km from nests during breeding. While at sea, individuals spent approximately one-quarter of their time commuting, with half of the time dedicated to area-restricted search behavior. Three years of data from one colony indicate spatial fidelity to a general foraging area. Our research directly confirms that Swallow-tailed Gulls are the only obligate nocturnal foragers among Laridae and contributes to our understanding of nocturnal foraging strategies in tropical seabirds.
Moveapps Workflow
MoveApps Workflow: Roost and Foraging Site Extraction
(2022-11-14) Kölzsch, Andrea; Kölzsch, Andrea; Federal German Ministry of Education and Research
Extract roosts (stationary during night) or foraging sites (stationary during day) from movement tracks. Steps: selects locations on ground (low speed) and at night/day, extract sites where animals stay in defined radius for defined min. duration