U.S. influencer picks up baby wombat in Australia, sparks outrage
In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram this week, the woman can be seen picking up the hissing wild animal before declaring to the camera: "I caught a baby wombat."
The woman — identified in Australian media as American outdoors influencer Sam Jones — then places the wombat back on the side of the road.
The video riled wildlife experts and animal lovers alike — and on Thursday, concern over it reached the top echelons of the Australian government.
"It looked pretty dreadful, didn't it?" Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told Australia's Channel Seven.
"I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look, leave the baby wombat alone."
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he was investigating if the woman had violated her visa.
"I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return," he said in a statement.
Jones also faced strong criticism from animal welfare advocates. Tania Bishop, a wildlife veterinarian at Australia's largest wildlife rescue organization, the Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the way the influencer picked up the wombat could have damaged its "muscles, tendons, nerves, shoulders and upper arms." Bishop called the situation "distressing."
Australia's Wombat Protection Society said in a statement that the influencer "mishandled a wombat joey" in an "apparent snatch for social media likes."
"She then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road — potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill," their statement said.
The organization noted there was "no clear evidence" the wombat was reunited with its mother afterward, adding that a "baby of this size is highly dependent on its mother, and prolonged separation could have fatal consequences." They also said the tourist risked injuring herself by interacting with the animal as someone without proper training to handle wildlife.
Australia's rotund native wombats are among the world's biggest burrowing species, according to the national museum.
While some species are considered endangered, the common bare-nosed wombat is found along large swathes of southern and eastern Australia. All species of wombat are protected by law across Australia. "It is an offence to harm a wombat unless a license is obtained from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water," writes the environment and heritage department in New South Wales, where two of the three wombat species can be found.
Jones' exact location when she encountered the wombat isn't known, the Australian broadcaster reported. A Change.org petition is pressing Australian officials to deport the influencer and ban her "from ever returning for this action."
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