An American influencer high-tailed it out of Australia on Friday after being widely condemned for posting video of herself grabbing a baby wombat from its mother and running down the road with it.
“There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said after Instagram star Sam Jones fled the country when officials announced they were reviewing her visa.
In the sickening video, Jones of Montana cruelly lifts the wombat joey by its front legs from a roadside, then runs away from its mother with it, screaming, “I caught a baby wombat” as the man filming her laughs.
She eventually returns the wombat to the roadside.
Jones, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast & hunter,” made her Instagram account private Thursday amid a torrent of backlash for the marsupial malfeasance, including a Change.org petition calling for her deportation from the Land Down Under.
News.com.au has confirmed that Strable, known through her social media accounts as Sam Jones, left the country following a threat to review her visa. @samstrays_somewhere/InstagramBurke said the conditions of her visa are being reviewed to determine whether immigration law had been breached.
“I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return,” he said in the statement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the tourist, too.
“To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage,” Albanese said.
“Take a baby crocodile from its mother, and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother,” the prime minister said.
The controversial video was posted on her Instagram account: @samstrays_somewhere. @samstrays_somewhere/Instagram
A petition on Change.org is now calling for the social media influencer to be banned from Australia for her recent actions. @samstrays_somewhere/InstagramJones, who also uses the alias Samantha Strable, closed her social media channels to messages and could not be reached for comment Friday.
The wombat appeared to be a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.
Yolandi Vermaak, founder of the animal-care charity Wombat Rescue, said separating the young wombat from its mother created a risk that the mother would then reject her offspring.
“My biggest concern is that we didn’t actually see mom and baby getting reunited. When [Jones] put [the baby] down, it looked disoriented. It was turned away from where the mother was last seen. So we don’t know if mom and baby actually found each other again,” Vermaak said.
Vermaak also called on Jones to say where the wombat was after the video showed the joey had a skin disease.
“The baby has mange, and it’s a matter of time before it dies of mange [without treatment], so it’s important for us to find where this happened and to get this baby and its mom treated as soon as possible,” Vermaak said.
If Jones returns to Australia, she could be liable for fines of up to around $200,000 for harming wildlife, plus up to seven years in jail, reported news.com.au.
-With AP
