Ground Hornbill Project

The southern ground hornbill is an iconic species of the African savannah landscape which has come under serious pressure and has subsequently been listed as endangered in South Africa. Reasons for this decline are urbanisation, changes in land use, persecution, electrocution, and poisoning.

The APNR Ground Hornbill Project works to conserve these incredible birds through the installation and monitoring of artificial nests. Research is a vital tool in this process, the more we know about the birds the better we can help to protect them. Current Ph.D. and MSc projects on the birds are investigating how climate change impacts the birds breeding success and behaviour.

The study site is located in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) which is part of the Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa. The area has had active ground hornbill conservation (APNR Ground Hornbill Project) through the FitzPatrick Institute of African
Ornithology for the last 18 years and is one of the few locations in South Africa to have a stable population of birds. Twenty groups of ground hornbills with group sizes ranging from 2 to 11 birds are regularly monitored. Since the project began we have seen the birds increase from a population of just 40 birds to 130 birds in this area!

Money raised for this project goes will go towards; (1) materials for building and installing artificial nests, (2) cameras traps and batteries used to monitor the birds at their nest sites.

Any donations go such a long way in this project! 

Thank you.