The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Man who shot native wood pigeon sentenced to community work

By Rob Kidd
Otago Daily Times·
13 May, 2020 07:02 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The kererū was shot in the chest, falling from the tree and landing on a garden shed. Photo / Rosalie Willis, file

The kererū was shot in the chest, falling from the tree and landing on a garden shed. Photo / Rosalie Willis, file

A Dunedin man who shot a kererū from his backyard has been ordered to do 175 hours of community work.

Truck driver Travis Jamie-Lee Parsons, 22, told the Otago Daily Times after charges were laid that it was simply a case of bad luck.

READ MORE:
• Where to
see kererū, New Zealand's Bird of the Year for 2018
• Big bird: Kererū crowned New Zealand's Bird of the Year
• Len Gillman: Sustainable harvest solution to kereru conflict
• Whangārei Bird Recovery Centre full of starving native pigeons

The defendant said he was shooting at a target, missed and the bullet inadvertently hit the native wood pigeon.

His mother, too, was keen to have a say.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's lots of drama over nothing," she said.

"It's just a bloody pigeon. I don't care what you call it."

The position changed some months later when Parsons pleaded guilty to charges of hunting protected wildlife and discharging a firearm near a dwelling.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Before appearing in the Dunedin District Court, Travis Jamie-Lee Parsons said the death of the kererū was just bad luck. Photo / Rob Kidd
Before appearing in the Dunedin District Court, Travis Jamie-Lee Parsons said the death of the kererū was just bad luck. Photo / Rob Kidd

The Dunedin District Court heard this week that kererū numbers were on the rise in the city but the removal of one bird could have a ripple effect among the local population.

A Department of Conservation report for the court stressed New Zealand was the only country where kererū — voted the national Bird of the Year in 2018 — were found and they were seen as an important species for "forest health and diversity".

''I've no doubt you knew what you were shooting at,'' Judge Michael Turner said.

The court heard Parsons was at the back of his home which bordered Woodhaugh Gardens on December 11.

He had set up targets along a fence and after shooting at them he took aim at the native bird which sat in a tree of a neighbouring property.

The slug hit the kererū in the chest, it fell from the tree and landed on top of a shed.

It was taken to the Department of Conservation for treatment but was euthanised several days later because of damage to its wing.

Counsel Brendan Stephenson said it came down to a "very foolish decision that's been made on the day".

His client had no previous convictions, he said, and shortly after the incident went to a DoC office and made a $150 donation.

Should a fine have been imposed it would have been nearly $10,000, Judge Turner said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"But I'm not satisfied a fine brings home to you the seriousness of what you did," he said.

As well as imposing the community work, he made an order for forfeiture of Parsons' weapon and ammunition.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure
The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

Rifts among industry groups, charities and agencies in the beekeeping industry.

16 Jul 03:00 AM
The Country: Luxon on coalition friction
The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

16 Jul 01:42 AM
Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal
The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal

16 Jul 12:37 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP