Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has criticized an American influencer after her video of taking a baby wombat away from its distressed mother sparked outrage among conservationists. Wong stated that anyone viewing the video would have thought to leave the baby wombat alone and with its mother. In the video, Sam Jones, an outdoor enthusiast and hunter from Instagram, is seen picking up the baby wombat from the side of an unidentified road and running with it to her car, while the mother chased after them. The man filming can be heard laughing at the mother’s chase. Jones has since deleted the video.

Immigration officials are reviewing Jones’s visa, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has hinted that she may face difficulties in obtaining a visa in the future. An online petition calling for Jones’s deportation has collected over 10,500 signatures. Conservationists argue that her actions could have caused severe harm to the wombats. The Wombat Protection Society expressed their shock at the video, stating that wombat joeys should not be treated as props for social media likes, as Jones allegedly did. Wombats are a protected species in Australia, and any separation between a baby and its mother can cause distress and harm. Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, emphasized that wombats are not meant to be used as playthings and that Jones could face legal consequences for her actions. Wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop stated that it is only allowed to take native wildlife if the joey requires help due to its mother’s death.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3d8m4vk0e9o