AN American influencer who snatched a baby wombat from its mother has broken her silence, saying she is “truly sorry” for the distress caused.
Sam Jones, also known as Samantha Strable, caused anger when a video showed her taking a joey from the roadside while its distressed mother ran after her.
The 24-year-old, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter”, fled Australia on Friday amid calls for her deportation.
In a three-part fiery Instagram rant, Jones claimed she was being unfairly vilified, insisting she had only been trying to help the animal.
“Am I a villain? Things, dead reader, are not as they seem,” she wrote.
She claimed she had stopped because the wombats “were not moving” and feared the baby might be sick or injured.
“The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey,” she said.
“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me.”
Jones insisted she had returned the joey immediately and apologised for her actions.
She said: “I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realised that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have.
“I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused.”
The influencer denied staging the stunt for social media likes, saying: “This was not staged, nor was it done for entertainment.”
However, her apology was quickly forgotten when she criticized Australians, claiming they were ignoring the truth about their country’s wildlife control strategies.
‘HYPOCRITICAL’ BACKLASH
Hailing from Montana in the United States, Jones argued that Australians were being hypocritical by disapproving of her behavior while huge amounts of public money were used to exterminate native animals.
“For the readers that are so angered by my mistaken attempt to help… do not be blind to your country,” she wrote.
She pointed to government-sanctioned culling wombats, kangaroos, horses and other species.
“Kangaroo flesh is sold as both pet and human food,” she said.
“Are they not deserved of government protection as native species?”
She also took aim at Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had suggested she “try picking up a baby crocodile and see how you go there.”
“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,” she fired back.
‘GOOD RIDDANCE’
Jones’s controversial comments came just hours after she fled Australia, narrowly avoiding potential deportation.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke said on Friday: “There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia.”
Home Affairs officials confirmed they had been reviewing her visa but that she left the country before any action was taken.
Wildlife service WIRES accused Jones of breaching Australia’s biosecurity and animal welfare laws, while conservationists slammed her actions as “appalling.”
The Wombat Protection Society said her handling of the joey was “deeply distressing” and could have put the baby’s life at risk.
“She then placed the vulnerable baby back onto a country road—potentially putting it at risk of becoming roadkill,” the organisation said.
An online petition calling for Jones’s deportation had gathered more than 40,000 signatures before her departure.
Jones, who has more than 95,000 followers, has made a career out of hunting, posting images of her kills, including deer and wild pigs.
She once applied for a job with animal rights group PETA — only to be rejected when they discovered her hunting background.
Meanwhile, a second video has emerged showing Jones handling an echidna in the wild, further fuelling criticism of her treatment of Australian wildlife.
