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Social media influencer Sam Jones accused the Australian government of killing wild animals, including wombats, every year and criticised the PM.
The viral clip angered Australians, including PM Anthony Albanese. (Photo credits: X)
US social media influencer Sam Jones has been at the center of a controversy in Australia after a video of her picking up a wild wombat and temporarily separating it from its mother went viral. Earlier this week, the influencer posted a video from an unknown location in Australia, where she was seen picking up the baby wombat. In the now-deleted clip, she looked into the camera and said, “I caught a baby wombat,” and then placed back the protected species of marsupial on the road.
NEW: US influencer Sam Jones faces deportation after she was filmed taking a baby wombat from its distressed mother.Australia’s Immigration Minister says he is working to deport the influencer for pulling off the stunt.
“I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this… pic.twitter.com/bielwW9we6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 13, 2025
The viral clip angered Australians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who labelled her act an “outrage.” The influencer, who left Australia following the backlash, initially apologised for her actions, explaining that she had picked up the wombat out of concern for its safety. Days after this statement, she lashed out, accusing the Australian government of killing wild animals, including wombats every year and criticised the PM.
In one of her posts on Instagram, she addressed the incident, writing, “When we found the mother and joey on a road, not moving, I was extremely concerned. As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit.”
“However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off. I was concerned it may have been sick or injured and made a snap judgment to pick up the joey and see if this was the case,” the content creator added.
“I ran, not to rip joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me. The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey. I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused,” she wrote.
In a follow-up post titled “Am I a villain?”, she hit back, saying things were ‘not as they seem’, claiming that the Australian government kills an alarming number of native animals each year.
She further urged Australian citizens to speak to Anthony Albanese about animals being slaughtered in the country. “The Australian government allows and permits the slaughter of wombats. Thousands each year are shot, poisoned to suffer, and trapped legally. Why, might you ask, do they kill them?,” she added.
“Your government further spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars annually to fly around in helicopters and shoot beautiful horses, deer, and pigs out its windows. A swift death is often not afforded to these animals,” Jones wrote.
“Survival for these animals can become near impossible, and their lives, a constant state a fear. Their carcasses are then left on your public lands to rot. Your Snowy River and Kosciuszko National Park brumbys are being slaughtered by the thousands on your dime- speak to your Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about that,” she said.
“While the Prime Minister wishes harm on me for picking up a wombat, I implore you to take a good, hard, look at what is currently being done in Australia surrounding the real issues it faces, the lack of power for tens of thousands of Aussies, and the treatment of its native wildlife,” she added.
Speaking with reporters earlier, the PM said, “To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage. And, you know, I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals,” he added, as reported by Sky News.
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