A US hunting influencer has sparked a wave of fury after posting a highly insensitive video showing her temporarily picking up a wild baby wombat. The video, which was originally shared on Instagram earlier this week, has since been removed, but as always, Reddit doesn’t forget.
In a now-viral video shared on Tuesday (local time), influencer Sam Jones can be seen picking up a baby wombat and rushing across an unidentified empty road as the mother wombat chases after her.
“Just caught a wombat!” a male voice filming the video laughs as Jones runs towards the camera.
She then continues to hold the visibly uncomfortable wombat — who tries to wriggle away for several moments — and smiles at the camera.
Eventually, she tells her colleague “the mama’s right there and she is pissed, alright let’s let him go” and sets the baby wombat on the ground.
While it’s unclear at the time of writing where or when this incident occurred, Jones — who boasts over 90,000 followers on Instagram — describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” as well as a “wildlife biologist and environmental scientist” from Montana. Her feed features multiple posts showing animal carcasses, including a chital (Axis deer) seemingly shot in Australia.
“Australia is full of epic, wild deer and harvesting this beautiful stag marks my third deer species here,” she captioned a series of photos posted on February 3.
Naturally, the video quickly made its way to Reddit Australia, where users were horrified by Jones’ actions, with many calling them “fucked up,” “depressing,” and downright “disrespectful.”
One Redditor pointed out she “should have known better”, given her background as a wildlife biologist, noting “she should be held to a higher standard than the average tourist”.
Another user who claimed to be from the US said they were “just depressed seeing this”.
“Look, finding a cute animal on the road is one thing. Finding the baby is another. But don’t go picking them up, and if there’s distress coming from the animals, call the proper authorities. This child (because she clearly hasn’t grown up) deserves a full punishment of the law in Australia and I’m completely for it,” they stated.
“I felt a visceral reaction watching this video. The poor wombats,” another added.
The influencer initially addressed backlash in the now-deleted video. (Source: Instagram)
In a comment on the now-deleted Instagram video, Jones explained this was an “opportunity to appreciate an incredibly animal up close”.
“To everyone that’s worried or unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mom. They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed,” she said.
“I didn’t think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.”
Her social media accounts on TikTok and Instagram have since been turned private or deleted.
However, a number of social media users did some digging before this, finding a series of Instagram Stories labelled ‘Australia’ — seemingly from a trip in late 2023 and 2024 — where Jones can be seen picking up “a little shark” who “was ready to fight” and holding an echidna.
Jones has described herself as an outdoor enthusiast and hunter. (Source: Instagram)
“I just watched her stories. That she is a wildlife biologist makes it 100000 worse. I am an enviro working with wildlife as well, and yes I would love to cuddle (not run off with) a baby wombat but I also know it’s wrong so I won’t freaking do it,” a Reddit user commented.
“This shocked me that anyone could think this was OK or funny. I’m honestly stunned that they think this will get them ‘likes’. If so, the world is really fucked,” another remarked.
“It’s not just the entitlement, it’s the disrespect. That her first instinct is not awe and gratitude to see this animal in the wild but to rush in to greedily exploit the moment for personal gain no matter the trauma it causes to anything and anyone else,” one user said.
One Reddit user pointed out every Australian knows “you see baby wildlife with its family, you leave it alone”.
“They aren’t toys for your amusement,” they said.
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, the Australian Wildlife Protection Council also described the actions in the video as “inhumane”.
“All young animals, be they mammals or birds or reptiles, should not be picked up for entertainment reasons by humans. It’s inhumane to both the young animal and the mother and will not end well,” a spokesperson stated.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Jones for comment.
Lead image: Reddit
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