‘Never been a better day to be a baby wombat': US influencer who took animal from mother leaves Australia

Independent

14-03-2025

An American influencer has left Australia after she sparked widespread outrage for taking a baby wombat from its mother.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Friday she had left the country of her own accord.
"There's never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia," Mr Burke told local media.
Sam Jones, who claimed to be a 'wildlife biologist and environmental scientist' shared a video with her 92,000 Instagram followers showing her taking the marsupial and then running across the road dangling the joey, while its mother gave chase.
'I caught a baby wombat!' Jones says in the video, as the baby makes distressed noises.
The incident sparked condemnation from the very top of the Australian government, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese daring the social media influencer to pick up a baby crocodile instead.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: 'To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage.
'I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals, take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back, rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother.'
Wombats are a protected native Australian species, and Burke said earlier this week that his department was examining the conditions of Jones' visa to see 'whether immigration law has been breached'.
'Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I'll be surprised if she even bothers,' he said.
"I can't wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don't expect she will return."
The location of the incident within Australia remains unclear.
RSPCA senior scientific officer Di Evans told the Australian Broadcasting Commission that the video showed a 'blatant' disrespect towards Australian wildlife.
"The distress caused by the callous act is obvious, with the joey screeching for their mother and the mother being extremely anxious," Dr Evans said.
An Australian man in the since-deleted video can be heard laughing and says, 'Look at the mother, it's chasing after her!'
She later said 'OK mama's right there and she is p***ed, let's let him go,' before walking across the road to release the baby.
Before Jones deleted the video and made her Instagram account private, she defended her actions, according to News.com.au.
'For everyone that's worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum,' she wrote.
Jones could not be reached for comment. Her Instagram remains private and her previous TikTok account has been deleted. It was not clear if she remained in the country.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the video was distressing.
"It looked pretty dreadful, didn't it?" she said in an interview with Channel Seven on Thursday. "Really, leave the wombat alone."