US influencer who snatched baby wombat leaves Australia

14/3/2025 12:05

An American influencer who uploaded a video of her grabbing a baby wombat, triggering widespread outrage, has left Australia. Sam Jones, who describes herself as an "outdoor enthusiast and hunter", posted the now-deleted video to her 92,000 Instagram followers from an unknown location in Australia. It showed her picking up the baby wombat from the side of a road as it struggled and hissed and the animal's distressed mother ran after it. Jones later put the wombat back down. Wombats are a marsupial found only in Australia and a protected species. Jones has left the country, a person familiar with the situation who declined to be named said on Friday, a day after the interior ministry said it was reviewing whether Jones' had breached the conditions of her visa. "There's never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement on Friday. There was no indication the influencer had been deported. Jones'

video drew widespread condemnation, including from the country's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. "To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother is just an outrage," he told a news conference on Thursday evening. "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." Jones could not be reached for comment. Her Instagram profile has now been set to private.