A U.S. influencer has drawn anger and criticism in Australia, including from the country’s Prime Minister, after she was filmed taking a baby wombat in the wild, separating it from its mother.
The video purportedly shows influencer Sam Jones, who has over 90,000 followers on Instagram under the handle “samstrays_somewhere.” Per her Instagram bio, she’s an“outdoor enthusiast & hunter,” who hails from Montana. The video in question, filmed in an unknown location in Australia, shows Jones running across the road to a car, with the baby wombat in her hands, and the baby’s mother running behind. After the wombat hisses, seemingly in distress, Jones eventually returns the animal to the bush.
The video has since been deleted, and Jones has now made her Instagram profile private.
Despite the original video being deleted, the footage continues to be shared across social media, drawing ire worldwide. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also joined the criticism against Jones.
“To take a baby wombat from its mother… is just an outrage,” Albanese said in a press conference on Thursday. “I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back.”
This comes after a statement from Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who said that Jones’ travel visa will be under review to see if she violated the terms of her stay in the country.
“Given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers,” he said in an email statement, according to CNN. “I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return.”
CNN notes that according to Australian broadcaster the ABC, Jones spoke out about the incident before switching her social media channels to private, saying the baby wombat was “carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom.”
There is also now an online petition to ban Jones from Australia, which is “to send a message to Australian politicians and legal officers to not let this case go” according to the petition organizer in the description.
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