US influencer who snatched baby wombat leaves Australia after outcry
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram, the woman can be seen picking up the baby wombat as it struggled and hissed
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS
Follow topic:
SYDNEY - An American influencer who uploaded a video of her grabbing a baby wombat, triggering widespread outrage, has left Australia.
Ms 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
Wombats are a marsupial found only in Australia and a protected species.
Ms Jones has left the country, a person familiar with the situation who declined to be named said on March 14, a day after the interior ministry said it was reviewing whether Ms 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 March 14. There was no indication the influencer had been deported.
Ms 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 the evening of March 13.
“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.”
Ms Jones could not be reached for comment. Her Instagram profile has now been set to private. REUTERS
