An American influencer who sparked outrage after filming herself taking a baby wombat away from its mother has defended her actions and said she was only trying to get it off the road after she received death threats and calls for deportation.
Sam Jones, who shares hunting and outdoors content to her 95,000 followers on Instagram, had been threatened with deportation after she posted a video on her Instagram account of her laughing as she ran over to a car with the baby with the wombat joey in her hands while its mother chased after them.
“I caught a baby wombat!” Jones says in the now-deleted video, as the baby hissed and wriggled in distress. She eventually put the baby down on the roadside near where the mother.
The video sparked backlash in Australia, with prime minister Anthony Albanese calling it an “outrage” as he challenged her to “take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there”.
Ms Jones, from Montana, shared a statement with followers in which she sought to defend her actions, saying she was “extremely concerned” to see the wombats “on a road, not moving”.
“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit.”
She added that the joey did not move or run off when she approached them, so she picked it up because she feared it may be sick or injured.
“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me. That snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey.”
Ms Jones went on to say she was “truly sorry for the distress I caused” and had learned her lesson.
In a second post, she defended herself against the backlash she received.
“Over holding a wombat, thousands threatened my life”, she said. “Let me be clear; these same people ought to understand the reality of Australia today.”
She pointed out that the Australian government has its own animal culling laws where permits can be obtained to kill wombats if deemed necessary, despite them being a protected species.
Over 40,000 people signed an online petition calling for Ms Jones’ deportation, which led home affairs minister Tony Burke to say he was reviewing whether her visa could be revoked.
It is understood she left the country of her own accord.
The Wombat Protection Society said: “We are expressing shock and concern over the actions of a tourist who mishandled a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes’.
“The individual, who appeared to have no understanding of wombat behaviour or the severe stress caused by human interference and separation from its mother, She then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road—potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill.
“There is no clear evidence that the joey was successfully reunited with its mother. A baby of this size is highly dependent on its mother, and prolonged separation could have fatal consequences. Additionally, without proper training in wildlife handling, the tourist not only risked injuring the joey but also putting herself in danger.”
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