Mabula Ground Hornbill Project

Who We Are

The Mabula Ground Hornbill Project was founded in 1999, in response to the rapid decline in the Southern Ground-hornbill population of Southern Africa.

Our work aims to slow and reverse the decline of the Endangered Southern Ground-hornbill, through a multi-faceted approach addressing education, population monitoring, the mitigation of their most dangerous threats, facilitation of solutions to human-wildlife conflict, and a rearing and reintroduction program to bring the Southern Ground-hornbill back to its historic range.

The Southern Ground-hornbill

This charismatic species is both culturally and ecologically important. They are hailed across their sub-Saharan range as the thunderbirds or rain birds. They are also a valuable flagship and umbrella species for both the savanna and grassland biomes, as they are easily recognisable and much respected. With such large spatial requirements, any successful conservation action in even one of their expansive territories benefits all the other savanna and grassland species, including threatened species such as vultures, wild dogs and cheetahs.

Mabula Ground Hornbill Project Endangered Species Scale

Southern Ground-hornbills are considered as Vulnerable throughout their sub-equatorial range in Africa (IUCN Red List), but within South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia they have already been classified as Endangered, with their numbers outside formally protected areas still declining.

Join us to ensure that our Thunderbird continues to roam the African savannas and grasslands.

What We Do

Monitor

One of the primary responsibilities of the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project is to monitor the national population of Southern Ground-hornbills.

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Restore

The most effective way to rebuild the remaining wild population is to reintroduce new groups into areas where the species historically occurred but is now locally extinct.

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Mitigate

Learn how conservation efforts are mitigating threats to ground-hornbills in the wild, ensuring the survival of this iconic species for future generations.

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Educate

The project runs an extensive environmental education programme, which is currently focused within areas where Southern Ground-hornbills persist and, in the areas, where reintroductions are being attempted.

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Improve

Improve and retain capacity, efficiency and stability of MGHP to enable it to continue to make a long-term contribution to conservation in South Africa and beyond.

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Research

As Southern Ground-hornbills are such a unique and complex species we can never stop learning about them, and all our conservation decisions must be based on sound scientific research to ensure what we are doing is best for the species.

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