Launceston man shoots 350 kookaburras in in rural Tasmania, fined $5,000 for wrong firearm licence

A farmer who shot hundreds of iconic Aussie birds defended himself in court against the shooting, but it was what he used to shoot them that landed him in hot water.

Neil Gordon Whirford, 60, stood before the Supreme Court in Launceston, Tasmania, on Monday and admitted he had used an illegally modified semi-automatic rifle, which he did not have a licence, to shoot 350 kookaburras in 2021.

The court heard from Mr Whirford that the kookaburras had bombed his rural property and started disturbing the natural wildlife after the 2020 Black Summer bushfires.

While Judge Robert Pearce agreed that the premises had been ‘invaded’, the fact that Mr Whirford had a Category A firearms license rather than the appropriate Category C license was why he was in trouble.

Mr. Whirford was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine within 28 days as punishment for the permit error and for the modification he made to the rifle.

Kookaburras are not a protected species in Tasmania, unlike many other states and territories.

This is because they are not a native species to the smaller island, having been introduced only in the early 1900s to control the snake population.

Justice Robert Pearce agreed the birds were legally culled but said Mr Whirford did not have the proper license to handle a semi-automatic rifle (stock photo)

Over a nine-month period, Mr. Whirford participated in what he described as clearing the pest species that had colonized his property since their habitat was destroyed by the fires.

To aid in the culling, Mr Whirford also bought a silencer illegally online and added it to the rifle in 2021.

Neighbors were thankful that the kookaburras had been removed from the area, the court found no previous convictions on its record, and Judge Pearce said he didn’t care about the culling.

“I understand that a cull is not illegal… I only deal with gun crimes,” Judge Pearce said.

Justice Pearce confirmed that the rifle used was “suitable” for pest control.

But Mr. Whirford had knowingly owned and used it without proper authorization, Judge Pearce told the court.

Mr Whirford had also illegally purchased a silencer for the rifle online (stock pictured)

The Black Summer 2020 bushfires triggered a massive migration of wildlife into the habitats, causing hundreds of Kookaburras to ‘invade’ Mr Whirford’s rural property

Mr Whitford owned the rifle before 1996 when gun laws changed after the Port Arthur mass shooting, but disassembled it rather than trade it in during the government’s buyback programs.

He started using it again for pest control in 2021 without updating the Category A license he had since teardown.

While Judge Pearce was “satisfied that the gun was used properly,” he was concerned that in the wrong hands the gun could be used improperly.

Tasmanians are not fond of kookaburras and even animal rights groups are calling for the culling of the birds to protect native species.

These groups included the Greens, who called for culls in 2020 after reports of them being aggressive towards smaller birds.

The idea was eventually rejected by Gutwein’s liberal state government.

Kookaburras are not native to Tasmania, but were introduced in the early 1900s to control snake overpopulation

Although the Greens campaigned for a Kookaburra cull in 2020 to protect native species, the Gutwein state government did not support it