WATCH: Man grabs seagull after it tries to eat his chips

A man in New Zealand posted a video of him grabbing a seagull that was trying to eat his chips.

Taylor posted the video to TikTok thinking it was pretty funny at the time. It quickly went viral racking up more than 22.4 million views.

Since the bird that he grabbed is actually protected, with only around 500,000 of the species estimated to live in the country, the video caught the attention of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

Department of Conservation Otago operations manager Annie Wallace said: “Tarapunga are protected under the Wildlife Act, meaning it is illegal to disturb, harass or kill them. Those who do so can face fines or imprisonment.”

She warned people against the behaviour. “It is stressful for the animal whenever someone catches and holds our native birds like this,” she added. She also advised against feeding them, especially fast food.

“Our birds did not evolve eating human food. They are not used to it and it can make them sick.”

Taylor later posted a video apologising for his action. “They all started kind of dive-bombing me trying to get my chips. One started coming towards my head so I ducked and put my hand up. I just grabbed it,” he said.