Two men who went pig hunting in Kakadu National Park have been fined and ordered to forfeit thousands of dollars worth of hunting equipment for breaking federal environmental regulations.

Key points: Men admitted pig hunting in Kakadu National Park

Men admitted pig hunting in Kakadu National Park Park staff found hunters while conducting authorised helicopter pig culling

Park staff found hunters while conducting authorised helicopter pig culling Traditional owners angry at increase in pig hunting at park

Jack O'Connor, 18, and Alexander Chala, 23, admitted to concealing their registration plates with duct tape before driving off-road over the Wildman River floodplains and into paperbark woodlands.

The Darwin Magistrates Court heard the national park's staff spotted the pair while conducting an authorised helicopter cull of feral pigs on the floodplains in October last year.

Ground staff on standby to assist the aerial culling found the men's ute hidden in bushland and covered with tree branches.

Staff on the helicopter then found O'Connor and Chala hunting on quad bikes with five hunting dogs, knives and GPS tracking devices.

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions lawyer Patrick Berends told the court the men had blood-stained clothes and had used the dogs to subdue several feral pigs before killing them with the knives.

Aboriginal custodians furious

Alexander Chala outside the Darwin Magistrates Court, after being convicted of illegal hunting in Kakadu National Park. ( ABC News: Felicity James )

Mr Berends said traditional owners were furious about the frequency of illegal hunting in the park and the offending should be viewed as extremely serious.

A statement from Kakadu National Park ranger and traditional owner Jonathan Nadji was read out in court.

Mr Nadji is from the Bunitj clan and said his country includes parts of the East Alligator River, South Alligator River and Wildman River floodplains.

"I know more and more pig hunters are coming out to Kakadu, almost every weekend and using my country, breaking the laws and disrespecting our culture and traditions," he said.

"It has upset me greatly.

"I have tried to work with Parks to get more patrols by rangers into these areas.

"I am worried things will only get worse and my country will be taken over by piggers and others who have no right to hunt out in Kakadu.

"Nothing will be left for my children and their children unless we get strong."

'Disrespectful, ignorant behaviour'

The court heard O'Connor and Chala travelled many kilometres in their ute on unauthorised roads, past warning signs about not entering the area, and made their own off-road tracks.

"Such activity potentially causes the spread of noxious weeds such as mimosa pigra, gamba grass, olive hymenachne and mission grass," Mr Berends said.

Magistrate Elisabeth Armitage said a conviction was necessary to send a strong message to the community.

"I suspect that neither of you are aware of or capable of identifying sacred sites," she said.

"It's the kind of disrespectful, ignorant behaviour that these laws are designed to protect."

O'Connor and Chala pleaded guilty to several offences, including possessing devices for hunting, taking animals into the park, driving motor vehicles and killing non-native species contrary to the Environment Protection and Conservation Regulations.

The men's lawyer, Amy Dargan, told the court both men were remorseful and understood the impact their activities had on the environment.

The magistrate ordered O'Connor and Chala to pay $3,500 and $2,500 respectively.

They are also required to forfeit about $4,000 worth of hunting equipment, including GPS units, tracking dog collars, hunting vests and pig hunting knives.