‘For holding a wombat, thousands threatened my life’
A U.S. influencer photographed took a woman with a wild baby away from Australia’s distressed mother, who said she was “really sorry” and was threatened with thousands of deaths in the incident.
Sam Jones, who calls herself an “outdoor lover and hunter”, was filmed, picking up Joey on the side of the road while laughing and running to the car while her mother chases them.
It caused a huge rebound, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese challenging her to “take the little crocodile from her mother and see how you got there”.
In a lengthy statement On her Instagram pageJones said she was trying to get the animals out of the road safely.
She said, as can be seen in the video, the mother ran away, but the baby did not, and Jones sneaked. She said she ran across the street “Don’t tear Joey off her mother but was worried she might attack me.”
“The judgment I made at these moments never came from a place where hurt or stealing Joey,” the statement said.
She stressed that it wasn’t “not being staged, not doing it for entertainment, and that her excitement for the present,” she said, “was too fast to provide the necessary environment for online audiences.”
In the second part of her statement, Jones launched a harsh attack on Australian animal seizure laws, including kangaroos, kangaroos, horses, deer and pigs.
Australia has a variety of laws and regulations that cause controversy and divide the country.
Wombats native to Australia are a protected species, but license to seize them can be obtained if necessary.
The fury over Australia is so strong that Home Minister Tony Burke said his department is reviewing whether it can revoke Jones’ visa. However, the BBC learned that she had left her country.
Jones, also named Samantha Strable, has nearly 95,000 followers and describes herself as an “outdoor lover and hunter” in her Instagram profile. She has since deleted the Wombat post.
