Camera Traps Reveal Kenya’s Wildlife

Why this is here: The camera traps captured images of at least five different species—rhinos, lions, elephants, giraffes, and hippos—showing a broader range of wildlife than typically photographed by tourists.

In Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park, photographer Will Burrard-Lucas used camera traps to document local fauna. Burrard-Lucas collaborated with rangers from the Rhino Unit to monitor black rhinoceros populations in a dense, rarely accessed part of the 1,500 square kilometer park. The team placed a camera near a palm-lined river, hoping to capture images of rhinos with GPS chips and those identified only by ear tags.

Burrard-Lucas designs his own camera traps, including the BeetleCam—a remote-controlled, miniature four-wheel-drive vehicle. This allowed him to get close to animals without disturbing them, a technique also used in wildlife filmmaking. The project yielded images of rhinos, lions, elephants, giraffes, and hippos.

Burrard-Lucas recently won the Sony World Photography Award for the series. One photo shows a rhinoceros struggling through a flooded river, highlighting increased flooding due to deforestation in the area. Monitoring continues as the team works to understand the effects of environmental change.