Influencer Feels the Wrath of Australian Wombat Lovers
A US influencer in Australia was filmed snatching a wild baby wombat from its mother last week, and the resultant outrage nearly got the woman deported. Samantha Strable of Montana, a self-described “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” who goes by the name Sam Jones on Instagram, has since issued a (tepid) mea culpa of the incident.
Jones claims she found the mother and joey on the road, not moving, and carried both to the side of the road to “ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit.”
Shona Lorigan / DPE
That after-the-fact account is difficult to discern from the original video, which shows a laughing Jones running off with a squirming joey while the mother gives chase. “I caught a baby wombat!” Jones squeals in the video, while the joey hisses and struggles in her grip. Off-camera, a man filming is heard laughing, “Look at the mother, it's chasing after her!”
Jones quickly deleted the video, but the reaction was swift and unforgiving. The Wombat Protection Society registered its shock to witness the “mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes.’” An online petition accrued tens of thousands of signatures demanding Jones be deported, with Home Affairs minister Tony Burke reviewing whether it could revoke the American's visa.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese challenged the addled influencer to “take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there.” (Unfortunately Jones decided to depart before they could throw her out and she could try it out.)
There are three wombat species endemic to Australia, including the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus). The word “wombat” is from the near-extinct Dharug language, though the continent’s early settlers thought the animals were badgers, which is why there are place names like Badger Creek, Victoria, and Badger Corner, Tasmania.
Unlike badgers, wombats are marsupials, and all are protected under Australian law, with the northern hairy-nosed wombat deemed “critically endangered.” Even the more plentiful common wombat is up against the usual threats of habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species – including invasive idiots with an Instagram following.
Photo credit: samstrays_somewhere on Instagram
