The Tulsa Zoo collaborates and supports the Motus network and the important data being collected for wildlife conservation. Motus is a Latin word meaning movement and that is exactly what the Motus tracking system does. Motus is the world’s largest collaborative automated radio telemetry array and is the central hub for detection data from more than 750 receiving stations worldwide. The Tulsa Zoo is a receiving station and installed tracking station antennas and computer hardware to track wildlife that are equipped with micro radio telemetry transmitters called Nanotags.

Project location:

Tulsa Zoo and Worldwide

Project focus:

Motus is an automated radio-telemetry system that allows researchers to track the movements of radio-tagged birds, bats and insects throughout the land and seascape with unprecedented temporal precision. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a coordinated hemispheric collaboration of researchers maintaining a network of automated receiving stations throughout the world. Motus is a program of Bird Studies Canada (BSC), Canada’s leader in bird research and conservation, in partnership with collaborating researchers and organizations like the Tulsa Zoo. The purpose of Motus is to facilitate scientific advancement and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals.

Find out more about the Motus Program and Wildlife Migration