{"id":1758,"date":"2025-03-15T14:03:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T14:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/15\/american-influencer-apologizes-for-snatching-australian-baby-wombat\/"},"modified":"2025-03-15T14:03:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T14:03:33","slug":"american-influencer-apologizes-for-snatching-australian-baby-wombat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/15\/american-influencer-apologizes-for-snatching-australian-baby-wombat\/","title":{"rendered":"American influencer apologizes for snatching Australian baby wombat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An American influencer who sparked outrage after posting a video of her snatching a baby wombat<\/a> from its mother while in Australia apologized on Saturday, saying she had acted out of concern for the young animal’s welfare.<\/p>\n

Australian authorities had threatened Sam Jones<\/a><\/span> with deportation after she posted a video on her Instagram account of her running with a wombat joey in her hands from its mother on a roadside at night.<\/p>\n

“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me,” Jones, who also uses the name Samantha Strable, posted on social media.<\/p>\n

“The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey,” she added.<\/p>\n

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A Tasmanian wombat in a zoo exhibit in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Susan Montoya Bryan \/ AP<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video of the young wombat being grabbed was “just an outrage.”<\/p>\n

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his department was investigating whether Jones had breached the terms of her visa before she left the country on Friday.<\/p>\n

“There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Burke said after she left Australia voluntarily.<\/p>\n

Burke said he did not expect Jones would apply for an Australian visa again.<\/p>\n

The animal appears to be a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.<\/p>\n

Montana-based Jones claimed she became “extremely concerned” when she found the two wombats on a road not moving.<\/p>\n

“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit,” Jones said.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/span>

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A wombat searches for food along a road in a bushfire-affected area on February 3, 2020 near Braidwood, Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Getty Images<\/p>\n

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“However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off. I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made a snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if that was the case,” she added.<\/p>\n

An unidentified man laughs as he films Jones saying: “I caught a baby wombat.” They both note the mother’s sounds of aggression.<\/p>\n

Animal welfare experts said Jones could have harmed the joey by dangling it by its two forelegs.<\/p>\n

Jones said she returned the joey to its mother and ensured they both left the road.<\/p>\n

“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realized that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused,” she added.<\/p>\n

Jones did not immediately respond on Saturday to The Associated Press’s questions, including where and when the baby wombat was captured.<\/p>\n

A wombat expert said the video revealed the joey had the skin disease mange and would die without treatment.<\/p>\n

Jones also did not tell the AP where she was on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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