Influencer Sam Jones who went viral for stealing wombat from its mom issues apology, slams Australian PM

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: American influencer Sam Jones—who calls herself a "wildlife biologist and environmental scientist"—has finally broken her silence after a now-deleted video showed her snatching a baby wombat from its mother in Australia.

On Friday, March 14, Jones took to Instagram to post a lengthy statement—apologizing for the incident while insisting that she only picked up the baby wombat to prevent it from getting hit by a car.

Sam Jones' side of the story and the controversial video

“When we found the mother and joey on a road, not moving, I was extremely concerned,” Sam Jones wrote. “As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn't get hit."

“...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 judgement to pick up the joey and see if this was the case,” she continued. “I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me," Jones further said.

Captured by 10 News First, the video shows Jones picking up the baby wombat from the side of the road at night and running away with it—while laughing—as the tiny creature screeches for its mother. The mother wombat is seen bolting across the street, seemingly in a panic to protect her baby.

“Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her!” the person filming the video exclaims.

Jones, still holding the squirming baby, then shouts, “I caught a baby wombat!” before realizing the mama is right there and not happy about the situation. “OK mama’s right there and she is pissed, let’s let him go,” Jones says before finally putting the joey down.

Sam Jones flees Australia and claps back

The backlash was swift, and Sam Jones has since fled Australia. But she wants everyone to know her actions “were never from a place of harm or stealing a joey". She insists that after giving the wombat a “quick” check, she “immediately returned it to its mother” and that the pair “went off together".

“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realized that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” she admitted in her statement. “My only intent was to prevent these amazing animals from being hit … I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused," Jones added.

She insists that the whole thing wasn’t some attention-seeking stunt. The video "was never about social media or getting likes," she claimed, adding, “It was not staged.”

But Jones wasn’t done talking. In the second half of her statement, she revealed that “thousands threaten my life” over the incident. Then she went off on the Australian government, calling them out for allegedly permitting the mass slaughter of wombats each year.

And she had words for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was not at all amused by her video.

“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 wrote. 

“Then, decide for yourself if I, a person who certainly makes mistakes, am really your villain,” Jones concluded.

The aftermath

Government officials have confirmed that Sam Jones voluntarily left Australia, and according to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, her visa situation is under review.

Meanwhile, PM Albanese did not hold back. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), he called the video an “outrage".

"Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there," he reportedly said. "Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother," he added.

In Australia, animal cruelty offenses can come with a hefty price tag—fines of up to $149,000 (AU$235,600) for individuals and $158,000 (AU$250,000) for corporations, plus potential jail time of up to seven years, according to People.