Will Burrard-Lucas (born 2 September 1983), is a British wildlife photographer and entrepreneur. He is known for developing devices, such as BeetleCam and camera traps, which enable him to capture close-up photographs of wildlife.
While living in Zambia in 2012–2013, Burrard-Lucas also developed high-quality camera traps for photographing rare and nocturnal animals.[12] These camera traps were based on a passive infrared sensor and took photos using a standard DSLR or mirrorless camera.[13] In 2015, his work with camera traps led to a collaboration with WWF to photograph elusive animals in Namibia.[14]
In 2014, Burrard-Lucas founded a company, Camtraptions Ltd, which produces BeetleCams and camera trap systems for photographers and filmmakers.[15]
In July 2019, Burrard-Lucas announced his intentions to take two new versions of BeetleCam back to the African continent in search of lions for a new project.[16]
Ethiopian Wolf Project
In 2011, Burrard-Lucas collaborated with Rebecca Jackrel, a nature photographer from the USA, to document endangered Ethiopian wolves in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. The project was funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign which raised $13,705.[17] The photographers spent more than a month documenting the lives of the wolves and the work of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme.[18] The project culminated in a book titled The Ethiopian Wolf: Hope at the Edge of Extinction.[6]
Tsavo Elephants
In August 2017, Burrard-Lucas started working with Tsavo Trust in Kenya to photograph the last "Big Tusker" elephants in Tsavo. During the project, Burrard-Lucas used his BeetleCam to photograph F_MU1, a female elephant with extremely long tusks.[19][20] The project resulted in a book, titled Land of Giants, which was published in 2019.[21][22]
Melanistic African Leopard
In February 2019, Burrard-Lucas captured the first high-quality camera trap photographs of a melanisticAfrican leopard, also known as a black panther, in Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya.[23][24] Previously, only one such leopard had been photographed in Africa, in 1909 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[25] The project resulted in a book, titled The Black Leopard, published in 2021.