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The Unexpected Journey of a Conservation Pioneer

Ann Turner founded the MGHP in 1999, not as a scientist, but as a passionate individual who fell in love with the bird’s unique character. Her journey from an early retiree to the founder of a leading conservation project is a remarkable story of "learning on the job" to save an endangered species.

The Spark: A Chance Encounter

Ann's interest in the species began at the Umgeni River Bird Park in Durban. Ann had an encounter with a ground-hornbill called Marilyn. When she returned to the Mabula Private Game Reserve (where she was living at the time), she questioned why these birds weren't present on the reserve. Upon being told they were locally extinct in that area, she reached out to Hendri Coetzee, a ranger in Mabula then. Coetzee contacted Dr. Alan Kemp, who was then conducting research into hand-rearing SGHs. Dr Alan had three chicks from KNP that were being reared at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa and after a few weeks the chicks were taken to the reserve and released, jump starting the project.

These three founding chicks reached Mabula through a community project. Second-hatched chicks harvested in the Makuleke community’s Pafuri area of northern Kruger were reared at the National Zoological Gardens and then at the Makuleke village of Ntlaveni, before being delivered to Mabula in April 1999.

Pillars Under Ann Turner

Ann worked tirelessly for 11 years to build the foundation of what MGHP is today. Her leadership established several key strategies:

1. International Collaboration: She recognized that zoos (both locally and abroad, like the San Diego Zoo) held the expertise needed for hand-rearing. She brought in international experts to train local staff in the delicate art of raising hornbill chicks.
2. The Hand-Rearing Protocol: She was instrumental in setting up committees to improve the husbandry and captive breeding of the species, ensuring that "rescued" second chicks from the wild had the best chance of survival.
3. The First Major Success: Her determination paid off in October 2008, when a reintroduced group at Mabula laid an egg in an artificial nest. The chick, named Jac, fledged in 2009—becoming the first Ground Hornbill in history to be successfully raised by a reintroduced, free-roaming group led by a hand-reared female

Legacy and Recognition

Ann eventually retired back to the UK, leaving the project in the hands of a professional scientific team (now led by Dr. Lucy Kemp). In 2010, she was awarded the PAAZAB Conservation Award for her "single-minded determination" and for championing a species that had previously been overlooked by major conservation funders.

"I found myself running a conservation project for a species under threat of extinction... 11 wonderful years becoming an unusually large and successfully privately funded international research and conservation project." — Ann Turner

Through her foresight, she transformed a personal fascination into a national conservation movement that has successfully slowed the decline of the "Thunderbird" in South Africa.