An American influencer just became the target of backlash after posting a video of herself grabbing a baby wombat from its mother for a photo.

The video sparked fury among viewers as the mother wombat was in apparent distress after her baby was taken away. 

American influencer Sam Jones is under fire for grabbing a baby wombat from its mother for photos

Image credits: samstrays_somewhere

Image credits: dudlajzov/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)

Sam Jones (formerly Samantha Strable), an American hunting influencer and self-proclaimed wildlife biologist, just got a wave of reactions from viewers on social media. In her since-deleted video, the influencer is seen capturing a wild baby wombat from the side of the road at night, removing it from its mother. 

The video shows Jones running happily across the road with the baby animal in her hands while an Australian man behind the camera can be heard hysterically laughing and saying, “Just caught a baby wombat.” She captioned the video that it was her “dream” to hold a baby wombat.

While the baby wombat was terrified, its mother chased after her baby in distress

Image credits: Animalogic

The clearly terrified baby marsupial, whose feet are dangling in the air, is seen wriggling and hissing defensively. Meanwhile, Jones holds the baby up to the camera and smiles for a photo. 

The mother, in distress, is later seen chasing after Jones and her baby. The man who is filming the disturbing footage then says, “Look at the mother, it’s chasing after her!” 

Image credits: samstrays_somewhere

After seeing the mother next to her, she says, “Okay, mama is right there, and she is pissed, let’s let him go,” to which the filming man replies, “Nah, he’s all right,” as she places the baby back on the ground.

The influencer added in the caption that “the baby and mum were safely united.”

Jones is a hunting influencer who shares deceased animals on her page

Image credits: samstrays_somewhere

After the backlash, Jones changed her public social media accounts to private. But this incident was not the first for Jones. The influencer’s Instagram account also featured posts of her posing with deceased animals she claims to have hunted. 

In one of the videos on her page, she is playing with a snake while in Australia and captioned, “Just casually f–king around with a venomous snake.” In other surprising videos, she’s pulling a baby shark out of the ocean and picking up an echidna.

Jones said the baby wombat and its mother safely returned to the bushes

Before locking her account, Jones replied to the angry comments in her Instagram comments, writing, “For everyone that’s worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum. They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed.

“I didn’t think I would be able to catch it in the first place, and took an opportunity to appreciate a really incredible animal up close. I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so,” she added.

Australian vet Dr Tania Bishop said the baby wombat was in extreme distress

Image credits: TimsVids

Australian WIRES Wildlife Rescue Organization’s Veterinarian, Dr Tania Bishop, told news.com.au that the wombat in the video is likely around eight months old and completely dependent on its mother. “It would be with the mum at all times, relying on her for protection,” she said.

“When [Jones is] running, [the baby wombat] is not supported underneath, and wombats are incredibly solid, especially in their back end, so there’s every chance she could have fractured the upper humerus, or the top of the arms, or caused damage to the shoulders. You can see the joey swinging, but it’s also hissing and crying out, which is a sign of extreme distress,” she explained.

Dr Bishop called the incident “extremely unacceptable”

Image credits: visitmelbourne

“This is just an extremely unacceptable way to treat our wildlife, which is already under incredible pressure right now,” Bishop expressed. Wombats are under threat from various factors, including habitat loss from natural disasters, disease, road kill, and climate change.

Speaking to Yahoo News, a licensed wombat rescuer, Yolandi Vermaak, shared, “Nine out of ten times, the mother will not come back for her baby if they’re separated. Babies are taught from a young age to stay nose-to-heel with their mum.

“You can see the baby is disoriented, and didn’t know where to go,” Vermaak explained.

Infuriated Australians flooded the video’s comments section

Image credits: samstraysomewhere

Angry comments flooded the post. Many disgusted and upset Aussies lashed out at Jones. “It’s not just the entitlement, it’s the disrespect,” wrote one Redditor on the r/australia subreddit where the video was re-shared.

“That her first instinct isn’t one of awe and gratitude to see this animal in the wild, but to rush in and greedily exploit the moment for personal gain — regardless of the trauma it inflicts on anything and anyone else — speaks volumes about her character. Absolutely shameful,” the Redditor continued.

“Revolting, both her and the bloke with her. How the f**k they think that mum trying to get bubs back, and that baby screeching in terror, is funny and OK is absolutely beyond me. Soulless, gutless, heartless stuff,” another shared.

Online users demanded authorities deport Jones from Australia

American hunting influencer removes baby wombat from distressed mother in Australia. Is this legal? pic.twitter.com/7vvsoM6WQu

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) March 11, 2025

“These ‘influencers’ are truly parasites who will do anything for some clicks,” another user said. Meanwhile, others called for her to be banned from visiting Australia. “Let’s hope the Australian authorities don’t issue her any more holiday visas in the future!” said one.

“Arrest. Fine. Deport. Ban,” another demanded. “As a wildlife rescuer specialising in wombats I can tell you… that this is an absolutely terrifying experience for mum and joey,” one user commented.

Netizens were furious about the influencer’s disturbing video

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