Rare shots of hyenas hunting buffalos, bathing hippos and a solitary giraffe on the plains of the Serengeti have been captured using a homemade helicopter drone. British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas designed the BeetleCopter so he could get up close and personal with the animals without scaring them off, or endangering his life. He previously designed the Beetlecam, a hidden camera that can be driven across the region, but created the drone to take unique aerial shots. Scroll down for video The remote-controlled BeetleCopter, pictured, is powered by six mini-rotors. It is capable of flying for up to 15 minutes at a time and the Serengeti footage was taken on a GoPro camera. Burrard-Lucas, pictured in the background, was able to control the copter from up to a kilometre away via a live video feed
@highlight
The footage was captured by wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas during a two-week stay in the Serengeti
@highlight
His remote-controlled homemade BeetleCopter is powered by six mini-rotors can fly for up to 15 minutes at a time
@highlight
Burrard-Lucas was able to control the copter from up to one kilometre away via a live feed and remote screen
@highlight
Shots of hunting hyenas, migrating wildebeest and bathing hippos were captured using a GoPro Hero3+ camera
@highlight
Photographer claims the drone is perfect for getting close to the animals without 'spooking them’
Other shots captured by the @placeholder include this aerial view of a herd of elephants.