Mabula Ground Hornbill Project

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The Mabula Ground Hornbill Project registered as a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) in 2001, originated in April 1999 when three recently fledged Southern Ground-Hornbill (SGH) chicks were delivered to the Mabula Game Reserve in the back of an old red Toyota Hi-Ace minivan. The concept for the project, with a mission to halt and reverse the decline of SGHs in South Africa , had its roots in long-term field studies of the species in the Kruger National Park (KNP) that began in 1967. Today the project has grown to become the lead agency for restoration of Southern Ground-Hornbill, using a trans-discplinary approach that is rooted in excellent scientific and social science research.

The Mabula Ground-Hornbill Project is working to slow the decline by:
• Harvesting and assisting the hand-rearing of redundant second-hatched chicks that would otherwise die of dehydration in wild nests.
• Re-wilding of the hand-reared chicks using established groups, led by a wild mentor, as ‘bush’ training schools.
• Reintroductions of these hand-reared SGHs back into areas where they have become locally extinct, once the original threats in those areas have been mitigated.
• Production and provision of artificial nests for wild groups that have no suitable natural nest.
• Research on genetics, behaviour and other important unanswered questions necessary to establish successful conservation methodologies..
• Coordination of awareness campaigns, to educate the general public on the threats facing this flagship indicator species, and to reinstate the SGH into collective memory, in areas where it has become locally extinct.

Lucy Kemp is the Project Manager of the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project and co-chair of the IUCN Hornbill Specialist Group.

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