US influencer who snatched baby Wombat leaves Australia amid outrage

Sam Jones, an American influencer, has left Australia after a video surfaced showing her taking a distressed baby wombat from the side of the road and posting the footage on social media. The controversial video quickly sparked outrage across the country.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, had previously stated that his department was reviewing whether it could revoke Jones’s visa, but sources confirmed that she left the country voluntarily.

In a brief statement on Friday, Burke expressed relief, saying, "There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat," celebrating Jones’s departure.

The video, which showed Jones laughing as she snatched the baby wombat from its frantic mother, caused widespread condemnation. In the clip, the baby wombat is seen hissing in distress before Jones eventually returns it to the bush. The incident prompted anger from both the public and Australian leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who called it an "outrage." Foreign Minister Penny Wong also condemned the act as "dreadful."

Opposition leader Peter Dutton described the act as "cruel" and expressed relief that Jones had left the country. An online petition demanding her deportation garnered over 30,000 signatures. However, as Jones had not been charged with any offense and was not deemed a threat, there were no legal grounds to cancel her visa.

Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Strable, has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram, where she describes herself as an "outdoor enthusiast and hunter." She has since made her account private and deleted the controversial post.

In a now-deleted comment, Jones defended her actions, claiming that the baby wombat was "carefully held for one minute" and was unharmed upon being returned to its mother. "They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed," she wrote. "I don't ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so."

Despite her defense, wildlife experts have criticized the act as a "blatant disregard" for native species. The Wombat Protection Society expressed shock over what they described as the "mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for 'social media likes'." Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, called the video "unacceptable," highlighting the trauma the baby wombat must have felt.

Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species. Experts say that separating a baby wombat from its mother can be both distressing and harmful, given the strong bond between them.