Baby wombat snatcher sparks fears with 'new' Aussie photos
The US influencer who made international headlines for snatching a baby wombat away from its mother sparked rumours on Wednesday that she had returned to Australia.
Samantha Strable, also known as Sam Jones and Sam Jo, fled the country in March as Home Affairs investigated whether she had breached her visa conditions, sparking celebration from ordinary Australians and politicians, including the Prime Minister.
'There's never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,' Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke quipped following her departure.
Pictures posted to her 95,000 Instagram followers this week showing her holding a large Murray cod in Australian waters momentarily led to speculation that she was back in NSW. However, a source has confirmed with Yahoo that Strable is still overseas and has not returned Down Under.
Earlier, the two images of Strable holding the fish alarmed hundreds of Reddit users. It was captioned "First Murray Cod!!. Absolutely love the pattern on these beautiful native fish" and tagged as being taken in Australia.
'They better not let [her] back into the country,' one Redditor wrote. 'If anyone sees her, report her,' another said. Others correctly suspected they were old photos taken before she fled.
Most pictures on Strable's Instagram account were scrubbed during the backlash in March. During this time, she claimed to have received threats, and close to 46,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be deported.
Questions remain about the welfare of the baby wombat and its mother that Strable interfered with on the side of a NSW road. She claims the pair were reunited, but worryingly, experts noted both animals showed clear signs of mange, a disease spread by foxes that's fatal without treatment.
Yahoo has corresponded with Strable and attempted to find out the wombats' location, but she has not responded to this question. From her base in Asia, Strable agreed to interviews with both Yahoo News and Channel 10's The Project in March, but she pulled out of both at the last minute. Instead she shared a video to her social media accounts, during which she accepted accountability for taking the wombat from its mother.
It remains unclear whether Strable has revealed the location to anyone else. But she has not shared it with licensed wombat rescuer Yolandi Vermaak, who is leading a group of volunteers hoping to treat the animal. Australia's largest wildlife rescue group WIRES told Yahoo that to its knowledge no one knows where the baby wombat is.
Among those working to find the animal are a group of internet users who have compared details of the landscape in Strable's video to pictures on Google Maps. They've even taken to driving around rural roads near Cooma and Kangaroo Valley but failed to locate the exact spot.
'The mange would have progressed. By the end of winter it will be dead,' Vermaak told Yahoo News.
'This could be a way for [Strable] to redeem herself. If we could find the wombat it would be a happy ending.'
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