Variation in herbivore space use: comparing two savanna ecosystems with different anthrax outbreak patterns in southern Africa

Background
The distribution of resources can affect animal range sizes, which in turn may alter infectious disease dynamics in heterogenous environments. The risk of pathogen exposure or the spatial extent of outbreaks may vary with host range size. This study examined the range sizes of herbivorous anthrax host species in two ecosystems and relationships between spatial movement behavior and patterns of disease outbreaks for a multi-host environmentally transmitted pathogen.
Methods
We examined range sizes for seven host species and the spatial extent of anthrax outbreaks in Etosha National Park, Namibia and Kruger National Park, South Africa, where the main host species and outbreak sizes differ. We evaluated host range sizes using the local convex hull method at different temporal scales, within-individual temporal range overlap, and relationships between ranging behavior and species contributions to anthrax cases in each park. We estimated the spatial extent of annual anthrax morta..., We compiled movement data from GPS (Global Positioning System) collars including newly collected and previously published datasets on springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) from Etosha National Park, Namibia, impala (Aepyceros melampus) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) from Kruger National Park, South Africa, and greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), and plains zebra (Equus quagga) from both parks between 2006 – 2020. Newly collected data included movement datasets on kudu, wildebeest and zebra (2018–2020) in Etosha and impala and kudu in Kruger. Details of the numbers, time periods and data sources of these movement data can be found in the corresponding research paper. 
Because of different sampling intensities and irregular intervals of the telemetry data, we thinned the data to three readings a day for more comparable relocation data across different species and tracking periods among species. We then prepared three different datasets at ..., These files include:
1. Thinned movement datasets
2. Shapefiles for Etosha and Kruger boundaries and pains in Etosha
3. R code for analyses