Disturbing moment golf party burst out laughing as an endangered bird drops its chick to escape their buggy - before mocking a 'Karen' who called them out for killing the animal

A group of mates who burst into laughter as they watched an endangered bird die on a golf course have sparked outrage. 

Snapchat footage posted online shows men and women dressed in Hawaiian shirts congregating on the green at Gardens Park Golf Links in Darwin on Saturday.

The video shows one woman driving a golf cart near a plovers' nest prompting two birds to quickly fly away as the group burst into laughter.

'It picked up its baby. It just picked up its baby and tried to fly away with it,' the man filming says.

A woman watching from a nearby apartment came over to one of the men to blast the group's actions.

A group of rowdy mates have sparked outrage after sharing footage of a member driving through a plovers' nest at Gardens Park Golf Links in Darwin on Saturday

'We've got a Karen here. She's upset that the plovers down there, the babies got killed,'  the man filming continues.

'And she's angry as f**k right now.'

Another female voice adds: 'She's called the police.'

One of the men sitting in a golf cart then calls out to the angry woman, 'I paid good money for this', to the laughter of the others.

'The plovers died, hey. It's actually kind of sad. That's okay though,' the man filming says.

The clip was posted to Facebook and quickly drew backlash, with viewers slamming the party's behaviour and calling for legal action to be taken.  

'Disgusting. We all know nesting plovers can be a bit annoying, but seriously!! Just go around them. Leave them alone. Certainly don't film killing the birds for a "laugh" with your "cool" mates....fine every single one of them!' one woman wrote.

Another added: 'She's not a Karen that was just b******t what was done. You should be ashamed of yourselves if you think that is funny to kill wildlife.'

'I hope this video is forward to wildlife so they are taken for cruelty,'  a third comment read.

'I hope they all get fined, named and shamed. This is disgraceful,'  a fourth said.

One of the woman could be seen driving near plovers, prompting the birds to take flight as the group laughed hysterically

But a man from the group, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia the video had been taken out of context and his friend hadn't deliberately killed the bird.

He said the group were celebrating a birthday and had been drinking when one of the women in the group hit a ball near the nest.

She then walked over to collect it and the plovers began to swoop her.

He said the woman in the golf cart drove to the area to pick her up, prompting the birds to fly out of the way of the vehicle. 

'The plover picked up an egg and flew away, but it dropped from its mouth' he said. 

'After the baby dropped, once we realised what had happened, we were all pretty upset. The day had been screwed up.

A woman watching from a nearby apartment was deemed a 'Karen' after she walked over to reprimand the group, believing they were harassing the birds

A man in a golf cart called out to the angry onlooker, saying: 'I paid good money for this'

The man said the group were not harassing the birds and were not amused by the animals being hurt.

'People are saying we were chasing them, but it wasn't like that at all,' he said. 

'We were laughing because it was funny seeing our mates getting swooped by plovers while wearing ridiculous shirts.

'We are completely remorseful, none of us intended on hurting any animal that day.

'If I could go back in time, as soon as the plovers started swooping I would say let's just take the ball and go.' 

Members of the group have been receiving death threats since the footage was shared online and one has lost their job. 

The group proceeded to play a few more rounds of golf before they were approached by a groundskeeper, who acknowledged their version of events and police were not called, the man said.  

Plovers inhabit virtually the whole of Australia and are commonly found on the shores of swamps and lakes, in grassy areas.

They are very protective of their nests and chicks and will swoop or use loud noises  to scare away intruders, however, the tactic is mostly a bluff and contact attacks are rare.